A Place to Call Home
by pollypocket911
Summary: SUMMERY: Shane has never had a home, not really anyways. He's been in foster care for as long as he can remember. Could fate lead him back to his family? Or will he allow the darkness of the world to consume him? Warning ABUSE!
1. Chapter 1

**SUMMERY: Shane has never had a home, not really anyways. He's been in foster care for as long as he can remember. Could fate lead him back to his family? Or will he allow the darkness of the world to consume him? Warning ABUSE!**

RATE T FOR LANGUAGE AND BLOOD... 

**Hey all! Thanks for clicking on the story! In this story Shane, Jason, and Nate are all brothers. The idea was given to me by TV-Lover-007, an epic fan of mine! Thanks so much girly!  
Here's chapter one of my next hopefully sweet awesome story! Let me know what you think!**

Enjoy!

I do not own the Camp Rock.

"Grey won't deliver. Boss says you have to get rid of the kid Baracus."

Baracus Yakavetta froze instantly at these words. He cleared his throat and tried to conceal the emotion in his voice. Yakavetta family rule number one: Never show emotion. "Why do I have to do it Vinny? Can't they get some number three to do it?"

Vinny rolled his eyes, "Because he asked you to do it, that's why." He looked over has Baracus and his eyes narrowed, "The boys was right, you gotta soft spot for the kid don't ya?"

Baracus' face instantly hardened and he stood, "Don't be ridiculous," He pulled out a gun and cocked it menacingly for effect; "Yakavetta's are anything but soft."

Vinny still looked unconvinced, "Listen Baracus, if ya don't wanna do it I can-"

"No." Baracus calmly walked towards the door, "I have to do this. The Boss is my uncle Vinny, I have more to prove to him than anyone else. If he's going to trust me to have the balls to take on the bigger jobs I have to do this."

Vinny nodded solemnly, "Alright. But ya run into any problems, ya know who to call." Baracus nodded wordlessly and left the small room where he and his friend had been playing poker, heading down the stairs to the dark, musty basement. He switched on the light once he reached to bottom and the sudden presence of light caused several mice to dart into the dark corners of the dank basement. Baracus scowled in disgust and made his way to the back end of the cellar where a decaying wooden door blended almost perfectly with the gray of the stone walls. He let out a sigh before taking a key out of the pocket of his expensive Italian suit and unlocking the door. The sight that greeted him made his blood run cold every time he saw it.

A small boy, no older than three, was curled under a mass of dirty blankets in the far corner of the cramped closet in which he was kept. One small wrist was cuffed cruelly to a rusted metal pipe and he was sucking on the thumb of his unbound hand in his sleep. As Baracus approached the boy, he tried his best to ignore the small cuts and bruises that lined his face as he crouched down beside him. He cringed at the memory of how the boy had acquired them… of how one of the nameless number three had beat him while Baracus was forced to video tape the whole ordeal… to show the poor kid's father that the Yakavetta's meant business. He could still hear the young boy's cries of pain echo through his mind, but he stubbornly pushed the sounds and memories out of his brain: he had a job to do.

Baracus reached over and gently shook the boy awake, "Hey Shane? Come on kid you gotta wake up." Shane's eyelids fluttered open, revealing large brown eyes that would make any heart melt. Baracus reached over and unlocked the handcuffs as Shane yawned tiredly.

"Bu-Bu?" Shane yawned and Baracus couldn't help but smile slightly at his nickname. It was true what Vinny had said; He HAD gone soft on the kid, but who wouldn't? Baracus had been the one to clean Joe up after his beating and had pretty much cared for him the entire time he had been a captive. Joe was having a hard time saying 'Baracus' and soon started to call the mobster 'Bu-Bu' as an alternative.

"Yeah kid, we have to go."

"Go where?" asked Shane innocently and Baracus had to force himself to look away, he couldn't allow this kid to get to him.

"Out." Replied Baracus gruffly, helping the small boy into his dirty jacket.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Cuz why?" Baracus let out a low growl of irritation, causing Shane to back against the wall in fear.

Baracus sighed, "Because I said so. Now stop asking question and let's go." He turned to leave the closet but stopped when Shane made no move to follow him. "What's the matta kid?"

Shane looked down at his shoes, "Are those men gonna hurt me again?"

If Baracus was a person who cried, that pitiful sentence would have made the water works start. But Yakavetta's don't cry, therefore, Baracus didn't cry… at least not on the outside. He re-entered the small closet and knelt down so he was eye level with Shane, "No one's gonna hurt ya kid. Not so long as I'm around."  
Looking into Shane's big brown eyes, Baracus knew that Shane was still unconvinced. "Just hold on to my hand. As long as you hold onto it, you're safe." Baracus held out his hand, and Shane took it without hesitation. _So trusting… so young._

The pair made their way up the rickety wooden steps of the basement, Shane's little hand wrapped securely around Baracus' massive ring finger. Shane squinted slightly against the light and Baracus knew it was because it had been ages since the boy had seen the light of day. Baracus was pulled from his thoughts when he and Shane ran into one of the last people they wanted to see: The Boss. He was flanked by his usual entourage of ghastly looking body guards.

"Boss." Baracus averted his eyes and nodded respectfully, unconsciously shielding Shane behind him.

"Baracus," Greeted his uncle with a thick Italian accent. He was short, only five six, and his dumpy frame was clad in an expensive suede suit. His gray hair made him look fragile, but one look into the man's steal gray eyes, and anyone would know not to cross him. "I see you've heard." His cruel eyes locked onto the three year old cowering behind Baracus. "You know what must be done."

Baracus nodded, "It's being taken care of Boss."

"I know it is. Do not disappoint me nephew." And with that, The Boss continued down the hall, around the corner, and out of sight. Baracus let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding.

"Who was that?" Shane asked breathlessly as the pair started to head outside to the parked car in the street.

"No one." Replied Baracus bluntly, helping the three year old into the passenger's seat and securing his seatbelt.

"He had mean eyes. I bet he's the boogie man." Said Shane knowledgably.

Baracus snorted with laughter, "Boogie man huh?" and the Shane nodded vigorously.

"That's why you was scared of him huh Bu-Bu?"

Baracus stopped fastening the boy's seat belt and looked Shane straight in the eyes, "I am not scared of him kid."

It was Shane's turn to laugh this time, "Bu-Bu, everyone's scared of the boogie man!"

"Well I'm not."

"Ya-huh."

"Nu-uh."

"Ya-huh."

"Nu- Kid just be quiet alright." He couldn't believe he was arguing with a three year old. He started the ignition of the black BMW and sped off in the direction of the river. Traffic through the city was grid locked, typical for the 6pm hour. Baracus sighed, placing both elbows on the steering wheel and massaging his temples. At least it's delaying the inevitable.

"Bu-Bu?"

"What?" Baracus asked, perhaps a little more harshly than he intended. Shane looked down and began to fiddle with his hands.

"I'm hungry." He utter softly. Baracus mentally kicked himself. He hadn't been down to see Shane since yesterday afternoon, and he knew no one else would have bothered to check on him. He looked at his watch and knew he couldn't off the kid in broad daylight anyways, so what harm would it do.

"You like McDonalds?" He asked Shane, taking the first exit they came to. Shane balled his tiny fists and brought them under his chin, grinning excitedly.

"YESSSSSS!" he squealed, causing Baracus to laugh.

"Alright I'll take you but we have to play a game, and if you lose we can't get McDonalds." Said Baracus seriously and Shane nodded, immediately focused his attention on Baracus; he REALLY wanted that McDonalds. "Okay, you have to get in the back of the car and cover yourself with my jacket and to stay that way until I say it's okay to come out. If anyone, and I mean ANYONE sees you, you lose the game. And losers don't get McDonalds.

"I won't lose!" said Shane with a determined look and quickly scrambled to the back of the car, covering himself.

True to his word, Shane stayed completely still and quiet as Baracus pulled through the familiar drive through of McDonalds. All he had to do was say he was a Yakavetta and he was served immediately and free of charge. This was the kind of respect and fear the Yakavetta family had in this town. They didn't even question him when he ordered a kid's chicken nuggets and a large coffee. Shane was silent until Baracus pulled into an abandon park by the river. "Okay kid, let's eat." Baracus exited the car and opened the back door, allowing Joe to tumble out. The pair made their way over to an old picnic table and Baracus gave Shane his happy meal.

"Thank you Bu-Bu." Said Shane happily, digging into his happy meal.

Baracus chuckled, "No problem kid."

An hour later, Baracus was finishing off the last of his coffee as he watched Shane amuse himself with the toy car that came in his happy meal. It wasn't long before Shane came over, plopping down next to Baracus on the bench and letting out a tired yawn. Shane placed his head tiredly on Baracus' lap and began to suck his thumb. It was then that Baracus knew he couldn't wait any longer… it was time to say goodbye. He carefully reached into pocket and pulled out his gun, bringing it mere inches away from the sleeping child's head. He was afraid that the sound of him cocking the gun would cause him to wake, but he merely shifted in his sleep, letting is hand fall slightly so that it was draping over the bench. Baracus let out a sigh of relief; he didn't think he could shoot the kid if he had to look into those innocent brown eyes.

He was seconds away from pulling the trigger when Shane's small, sleepy voice caused him to freeze, "I love you Bu-Bu."

_I love you Bu-Bu_. Four little words, and the mobster knew right then and there that he couldn't, wouldn't kill the small boy sleeping in his lap. He knew he had to act fast.

Carefully, he picked up the sleeping toddler and carried him to the BMW, placing him securely in the passenger's seat. He rushed around to enter through the driver side door, but made no move to start the car. He needed a plan. Taking the boy back to his family was obviously out of the question, and it's not like he could hide a toddler under his bed and hope that no one would notice. Looking over at Shane's sleeping form, he unconsciously began to bite his nails, a nervous habit he hadn't done since middle school, before he was adopted into the Yakavetta family.

_Adopted_.

It was then Baracus knew how he could save this little boy's life. He started the car and began to race towards downtown to the Child Services Agency building. He knew that hundreds of kids passed through the system every day. This kid was too young to remember who his real parents were, heck he didn't even know his last name yet. Joe Jonas would disappear once CSA got hold of him… it would be like he never existed. He reached the building sooner than he expected. It was dark and the streets were deserted. Baracus hastily pulled out a pen and paper, scribbling down a note:

_This is Shane. I can't take care of him anymore. Find someone who can._

He folded the paper in half and got out of the car to circle around to the passenger's seat. Joe stirred awake when Baracus opened the door. "Bu-Bu? Do I have to go back in the closet now?"

"No kid, you never have to go there again." He picked him up so that Shane's head was resting on one of his broad shoulders. Baracus climbed the stairs to the agency and placed the sleepy boy at the top. He knelt down so he was eye level with Shane, "Take this note, give it to the first person that comes out of this building. Can you do that for me Shane?" Shane nodded, taking the note with one hand while holding onto his toy car with the other, but his brow was furrowed in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to go away. I can't take care of you anymore, but these people," he pointed to the building behind him, "they'll take good care of you." With that, Baracus stood and headed back to the car, but stopped when he heard little feet following him. "Kid you gotta stay here."

"But I wanna go with you!" said Shane as tears began to form in his brown eyes.

"You can't kid." He made to turn around but was stopped when two small arms wrapped around his massive leg.

"Why can't I go with you? Did I lose the game? I promise to be good!" cried Shane desperately.

"Kid if you stay with me… the boogie man will get you." He pried the boy's death grip off his leg.

"No he won't! You'll save me! You're my bestest friend Bu-Bu."

"I'm not your friend."

"YES YOU ARE!"

"Would your best friend do this kid?" and with that, Baracus backhanded Joe roughly across the face. The force of the smack sent the small boy spinning and he scrambled back up the stairs before turning to face his attacker, disbelief and betrayal edged into the boy's deep brown eyes. Baracus did his best to keep his face stoic and free of emotion. "You have to take care of yourself now kid. You have to be strong." Shane said nothing to this; he just continued to stare at Baracus. "I'm sorry." Baracus mumbled quietly and he walked briskly to the BMW. He sped away from the building, all the while looking out the rearview mirror as Joe's trembling form became smaller and smaller… until he could see it no more. Two, salty tears ran down his face, but he didn't let anymore fall. If Baracus would have know exactly what type of life he had sentence the boy to, perhaps he would have turned the car around and blown the kid away right then and there… at least then Shane would die not knowing how cruel the world could actually be.

**Whew! Virtual water bottles for everyone who made it to the end, but virtual ice cream will be given to those who review!**

**Special shout out goes out to Emma Loves Kevin Jonas for suggesting I modify and post here ******

**Let me know what you all think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just so you know guys, I'm stealing internet so can post this. I feel devious.**

**Okay, I'm pulling a classic Back to the Future and leaping forward in time a bit. I wanted you all to get a picture of what Shane's home life is like, and so I created this drama filled chapter! Enjoy!  
**

**I do not own Camp Rock.**

Twelve years later

"Shane! Wake up! You over slept again!" A fifteen-year-old Shane sat up quickly at the sound of his foster sister's voice, and he immediately regretted the action. He'd fallen asleep at his desk again, and his US history book didn't make for a very comfortable pillow. He groaned as he brought his hand up to massage his sore neck, rolling his shoulders to work out the stiffness that had settled there. "Shane come on! It's your turn to make breakfast this morning and I'm not covering for you again, I have to get to work!" She screeched, and Shane groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It was WAY too early for this.

"Alright Rachel, I heard you the first time." He wiped away the puddle of drool that had formed on page 257 of his textbook before shutting it and standing up, stretching as he did so. He looked around at the small room that he and his seventeen-year-old foster sister, Rachel, and his eight-year-old foster brother, Tyler, shared. It had been almost six months since he had come to live with the Henson's, but it felt like so much longer. Sure it wasn't the best place he'd ever stayed, but it certainly wasn't the worst… he still had nightmares about some of this shit holes he'd lived in.

Unfortunately for Shane and his other foster siblings, the Henson's were the type of people who had foster kids to for one reason and one reason only: money. Every month, the state would send a check to take care of their "charges." Shane's foster parents, Marcus and Janet, greedily stuck this extra money into their pockets. He learned quickly that if he needed something, he would have to get it himself. Rachel had done him a rare kindness and got him a job at the diner she worked at in the city. She worked there during the day and took night classes at the local high school. Shane knew that Rachel would work all the time if she could, she was absolutely obsessed with being financially secure. However the state required all its wards to complete their high school educations and taking night classes allowed her to pick up more hours at the diner.

"Did you take my apron?" asked Rachel, coming over to Shane's side of the room and riffling through what little he owned.

Shane rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah Rachel, I borrowed it because I wanted to start a fashion revolution. I can see it now! Soon everyone will be sporting a stylish puke green apron, available in three stains: Coffee, Ketchup, and-" he ducked when Rachel made an attempt to smack the back of his head, "I think Tyler was using it as a cape."

"Fantastic." Rachel grumbled, stepping over one of the mattresses that lay on the floor and exiting the room. Shane just shook his head and began to search for his school uniform. Yes he went to a school with uniforms. Shane had learned that mere fact that he was in foster care put him at almost the very bottom of society: just above hobos and politicians. He also knew that if he wanted to get out of this hellish city, he would have to have a good education. About six months ago, Roland's Performing Arts Academy, one of the most prestigious private schools in the state, if not the nation, had taken an interest in Joe and offered him a full scholarship. Kids who graduated from Roland's often went on to Universities like Yale, Harvard and NYU after graduation; places Shane wanted to go to more than anything in the world.

A crash outside his bedroom door told Shane that Ronald and Henry, the Henson's real children, were up and wrestling with each other again. Shane sighed and silently prayed that they wouldn't break anything, because when any of the Henson children broke something, it was usually Shane who got in trouble… and being in trouble never went unpunished in this house.

He picked up one of the two white-collar shirts that he owned and grabbed his navy jacket off the back of his chair. He threw a few textbooks into his backpack and exited the room, only to be stopped by a midget wearing a green cape, AKA his little foster brother Tyler. "Hey Shane!" Tyler's smiled up at him, his green eyes glinting mischievously from under his shaggy brown hair.

Shane couldn't help but grin, "Hey Tyler, isn't that Rachel's apron?"

"No!" said Tyler seriously, "It's my magic cape! It gives me  
superpowers!"

Shane chuckled, "I don't think all the superpowers in the world will save your little butt if Rachel catches you wearing her apron." He sidestepped Tyler and proceeded down the hall, Tyler following close behind. Shane didn't know why, but Tyler seemed to idolize him, and followed him pretty much everywhere he went, which annoyed the crap out of Joe. But he did his best to keep his patience around the eight year old, and to watch out for him as best he could. He helped Tyler jump over a wrestling Ronald and Henry in the cramped hallway before descending the stair to enter the kitchen. He had to get breakfast started before Janet and Marcus woke up or he was a dead man.

"Boy! Why the hell is breakfast NOT on this table?" Boy. The Henson's never called Shane by his proper name. He closed his eyes, realizing that luck was not on his side this morning. He turned and saw Janet looking at him through nappy blond hair and bloodshot eyes. She was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette and sipping on a drink from her coffee cup, a cup that Shane knew did not contain coffee. At first glance, Shane thought that a large pig was sitting on his foster mother's lap, but upon further inspection he realized it was the Henson's daughter Annabelle.

"Sorry, I have a big test today and I was up late-"

"Stop stuttering boy and get in the kitchen. Annabelle wants bacon."

"Yeah boy," sneered the overweight six year old sitting on her mother's lap, "I want bacon."

Shane nodded, biting his tongue against the onslaught of snide remarks he was longing to throw at his foster family. He entered the kitchen, Tyler close behind him. "Why is she so mean to us Shane?" asked Tyler innocently, bringing over a loaf of bread as Shane lit the stove.

"Probably because we're better looking than she'll ever be." Said Joe matter-o'-factly, placing a few slices of bread in the toaster.

"Oh… I guess that makes sense." Said Tyler thoughtfully, jumping up on the counter so he could watch Shane cook. A few minutes later, Shane was placing the last of the food onto platters so he could serve it to the family, but not before stealing a few strips of bacon and placing it between two slices of toast. He handed the sandwich to Tyler and told him to get ready for school.

"And give Rachel her apron back would you?" he called out to the retreating eight year old. He shook his head and picked up the plates of eggs, toast, and bacon, none of which he would be allowed to touch until the Henson's had their fill, and entered the dining room. Only the Henson's children were present at the kitchen table at the moment, including the Henson's oldest son, Marcus Jr.

"It's about time!" cried Ronald, grabbing a plate of food from Shane before he could set it down on the table. Shane contained an eye roll as he placed the last plate in front of Annabelle. She gave it a look of disgust.

"I want sausage." She whined, pushing the plate of bacon away.

Shane gawked at the large child in disbelief, "But you said you wanted bacon!" he whispered angrily, placing his arms on either side of her chair.

"But now I want sausage! Go make me some NOW!"

If Shane didn't watch it he would miss his bus downtown, and he couldn't afford to be late today. "I don't have time to make you sausage! Just eat the bacon and I'll make you sausage for breakfast tomorrow." He tried to reason with her, but Annabelle wouldn't hear it.

"Make me sausage now or I'll tell daddy that you broke the vase in the living room."

"…but the vase isn't broken." Said Shane in confusion.

"It's not yet." Annabelle grinned evilly.  
Shane narrowed his eyes at the sadistic six year old, "You wouldn't."

"DADDY! DADD-" Shane placed a hand over Annabelle's mouth, desperately trying to silence her.

"Alright alright! I'll do it! Just shut up!" he angrily grabbed the plate of bacon and made to return to the kitchen. If he hadn't been so furious, he might have noticed Marcus Jr. stick his leg out in his path. Shane hit it dead on, falling flat on his face and throwing bacon everywhere. The dining room erupted in laughter at Shane's misfortune. Shane groaned against the pain, as his fall had jarred one of the bruises on his rib cage… tokens of his last brush with Marcus' brand of discipline.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Shane's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. He whipped around from his position the floor to look up at the beer bellied and angry looking Marcus, his thin wife standing just behind him. Annabelle ran in out of now where, clutching to her mother with fake tears spilling out of her eyes.

"Mommy! Shane made me bacon instead of sausage and now he's being mean."

Before Shane could blink, he felt Marcus grab him painfully by his hair, bringing him roughly to his feet and pinning him against the wall. "Is that true boy? Did my daughter ask for sausage?" his voice was eerily calm, and it only made Joe's heart beat louder in his chest. When Shane didn't answer Marcus right away he slammed him against the wall again, "ANSWER ME BOY!"

Shane winced slightly, but recovered quickly. He knew there was no point in arguing with his foster father, so he simply nodded, "Yeah."

Marcus suddenly forced Shane to the ground, pushing his face painfully against the beer stained carpet of the dining room. "Then WHAT the hell is that?" he screamed inches away from Shane's ear, pointing a pudgy finger at a strip of bacon on the floor.

Shane's mouth opened before his brain had time to process what he was saying, "Well I believe that's what most intelligent people call bacon, but I could be wrong. If you want I could Google it and show you a picture?" _Wrong answer_. Marcus stood and kicked Shane painfully in the gut before picking him up by his hair again. Shane was gasping, trying desperately to regulate his breathing.

"Don't get smart with me boy. Don't even begin to think that you're better than my family and me. You're lucky we even keep you around you ungrateful brat!" he threw Shane to the ground once more. "Don't worry princess," Shane was shocked at how fast Marcus' tone of voice changed once he was speaking to his daughter... also known as the spawn of Satan, "Daddy will make you some sausage." He picked her up and gave her a quick peck on the forehead, and Annabelle smiled evilly down at Shane. "As for you boy, I have shirts in the basement that need to be ironed. Get moving."

Shane gulped. He hated the basement, for some reason it scared the crap out of him. He hated dark, cramped places and Marcus knew it. He purposefully sent Shane down there any chance he got. "But Marcus, I have school…"

"Excuse me?" asked Marcus darkly.

Shane averted his eyes from the evil man's gaze and sighed, "Nothing."

"That's what I thought, now get your lazy ass downstairs or I'll throw you down myself." Shane knew Marcus wasn't kidding.

He got up as quickly as his injured body would allow and headed for the basement. Shane took a deep breath before practically running to the bottom of the stairs so he could turn on the light, letting out a sigh of relief as the dark basement flooded with the brightness radiating from the florescent bulb. He stared at the massive pile of laundry that need to be ironed and knew that he would never finish in time to make his bus, but there was nothing he could do about it. He turned on the iron and began the slow process of sorting through the laundry when he heard the stairs begin to creak behind him, indicating that someone as coming down them. He turned quickly and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Rachel.

"Spawns of Satan: one, Foster Rejects: Zero." She said bluntly, tying on the apron she had retrieved from Tyler a few moments ago.

Shane was too angry at the situation to respond and continued to sort through the laundry. Rachel came up beside her foster brother and looked at the amount of work he had to do.

"Doesn't your bus leave in like ten minutes?" she asked curiously.

"Yup." said Joe without any emotion.

Rachel leaned against the ironing board so that she was facing Shane, "Don't you have that big test today? The one you've been studying for since last Thursday?"

"Yup."

"Are they going to let you retake it?"

"Probably not." Said Shane, still with no emotion as he place the first shirt on the ironing board and smoothed out the wrinkles. Rachel was silent for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as if she was contemplating something. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Here, give me those." She pushed Shane out of the way and took the iron from his grasp. "Go catch your bus."

Shane looked at her in disbelief, "But aren't you going to be late for work?"

"Yeah, but Billy owes me a favor, and I can get Tyler down her to help me fold before he goes to school."

Shane was still too shocked to move, "Are you serious?" It wasn't often someone did something for Shane without wanting something in return.

Rachel turned and brandished the iron like a sword inches away from Shane face, "Will you just get the hell out of here before I change my mind?" Shane broke into one of his rare smiles wrapped his arms around Rachel, who gave Shane a scowl and did not return the display of affection.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU!" exclaimed Shane happily, but Rachel just pushed him away.

"Yeah yeah, just don't be late for work today alright?" She turned around and continued to iron.

"Of course you got it! You're the best Rach!" he called out to her as he ran up the stairs two at a time.

Rachel just shook her head and smiled slightly in spite of herself. She never saw anyone so excited to go to school, but that was Joe she guessed. "What a weird kid." She said to the empty basement as she started on the massive pile of laundry.

**Doesn't Rachel pretty much rock? I personally think she needs an epic virtual gold star ****I'll give you one too if you review!**

**Shout out to Starsnuffers! We both steal internet in the name of creativity.**

**Why?**

**Cuz be cool.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Glad to see ppl are reading the story and enjoying it! here's another chapter of awesomeness :) And guess who makes and appearance…**

**Read on to find out!**

**I do not own camp rock!**

The bus ride from Shane's side of town to the Upper West End took about forty-five minutes, and that was one way. He didn't mind it though; it always gave him a bit more time for studying with minimal distractions… well, as minimal as it can get on a public city bus.

Shane had always been fascinated by the characters that got on and off at the various stops on his way to school each morning. There was the guy who seemed to call EVERY person in his cell phone and talk loudly so everyone could hear his conversation. Shane found this extremely annoying, especially when he was trying to study. There was smelly lady who would randomly sit next to Shane about once a week. This particular lady seemed to be under the impression that the only reason Shane was put on this earth was to listen to her pathetic life story. Then there was the random guy who wore a skull cap, even in the summer, and always carried a large bag big enough to fit a body inside… Shane thought it best never to make eye contact with him.

"Shane, it's your stop sugar." Shane had been so engrossed in post revolutionary battle strategies that he had almost forgotten to get off. He hastily gathered up his textbooks and papers awkwardly in his arms and came to the front of the bus.

"Whew. Thanks Glenda!" he said to the fifty something bus driver. He attempted to balance his books in one hand and dig change out of his pocket with the other.

"Big test today?" asked Glenda, smiling slightly as Shane struggled to find enough money to pay for his ride. Joe had been riding Glenda's bus for months now, and the pair had formed a makeshift friendship with one another. In some ways, Glenda was his best friend… his only friend really. Shane found it hard to relate to the sons and daughter of the wealthy business tycoons that went to his school.

"Yeah, first big test of the semester." He succeeded in pulling out a handful of coins and counted them. He crinkled his forehead when he realized he didn't have enough to cover the fare, and reentered his pocket to attempt to find more change that he knew wasn't there.

"Don't worry about it sugar." Shane was about to protest but the elderly bus driver cut him off, "I said don't worry about it, you just focus on Acing that test alright?" He smiled gratefully and put the change back into his pocket.

"Thanks Glenda, stop by the diner tonight and I'll buy you a burger."

Glenda just shook her head, "Just say hi to that little girlfriend of yours you were telling me about."

Shane just rolled his eyes, knowing exactly who she was talking about, and started down the bus steps, "Jenna is not my girlfriend Glenda."

"She will be when you actually speak to her Shane!" She called out after Shane retreating back.

"Goodbye Glenda!" he called over his shoulder.

"Just a simple hello is all it'll take and then-"

"I said goodbye Glenda!" Shane could hear her chuckling as the squeaky door of the bus shut. He made a mental note NOT to share any information about his crushes with Glenda in the future.

Shane walked the remaining two blocks to school, dodging the heavy traffic on the streets. At long last the tall, gothic looking building of Roland's Performing Arts Academy came into view. He weaved his way through the countless stretch limos that lined the entrance, before climbing the twenty or so granite steps to the school's entrance. Shane couldn't help but smirk at the fact that he was probably the only student who came to Roland's via Public Transportation.

He was already running late, and he knew he wouldn't have time to stop at his locker. "Crap, did I forget that sheet music in my locker?" Shane said to himself, and began to sort through the massive pile of textbooks and papers in his arms, not really paying attention to his surroundings, "Where is-" CRASH! Shane had collided face fist into an open locker door. He fell hard on his butt and his textbooks and papers went flying in every direction. The hallway erupted with laughter at Shane's misfortune, and none made an attempt to help him. "Awesome." He grumbled holding his throbbing nose. The bell rang which signaled the start of classes and the hallways soon cleared. Shane sat up and started to gather up his books.

"I am SO sorry! That was my fault!" The soft, feather-light voice caused Shane to look up, and he swore his heart stopped beating.

It was Jenna Summers; one of the most popular seniors in school… and the most beautiful girl Shane had ever laid eyes on. All he could do was stare. "Are you okay? That was a pretty epic fall." Her blue eyes were full of genuine concern as she knelt down to help Shane gather his books. It was then Shane realized that his mouth was hanging open like a retard.

"Uhh… yeah... I'm fantastic. You look fantastic." Shane's eyes widened in horror as Jenna looked at him curiously, "I didn't mean it like that! I meant are you fantastic too? Err… I mean are you okay?"

Jenna laughed, it sounded beautiful… like rain on a church roof, "Well you didn't hit me, you just hit my locker."

"Oh, well is your locker okay?" Shane asked stupidly, and he closed his eyes after he spoke, just SHUT UP Shane.

Jenna continued to laugh, "Well, I'll have to ask the next time I have a conversation with my locker." She and Shane stood up and she placed the last of Shane's books in his arms. "I'm Jenna Summers." She stuck out her hand for Joe to shake, and Shane took it, hoping she wouldn't notice that his hand was all sweaty.

"Yeah I know." He paused for a moment and then realized that she probably had no idea who he was AND he just sounded like a creepy stalker. He was on a roll today. "I mean I actually have a class with you. Music… and advanced History… and gym and maybe like free period or something I can't remember really… I mean I remember you but I sit behind you, like WAY behind you so that's probably why we never see each other, well I see YOU but you obviously can't see ME because that would mean you'd have eyes in the back of your head which would be SO weird... " He continued to shake her hand as he rambled on.

"And what did you say your name was?"

"Shane… Smith… Shane Smith!" he said, perhaps a little too excitedly.

"Well Shane Smith, could I have my hand back?"

"Oh yeah sure!" he mentally kicked himself as he let out a nervous laugh. Smooth Shane. _very_ smooth.

Jenna wiped her now sweaty hand on her plad school skirt and smiled awkwardly at him. "Well I guess I'll see you in class then Shane."

Shane grinned and was about to say something else when the pair were interrupted by a loud, deep voice, "Jenna baby! What's the hold up? I've been waiting' for you for like an hour!" Enter Jason Grey, one of Roland's most talented students and boyfriend to the girl of Shane heart… and possibly one of the biggest jerks to ever walk planet earth. He swaggered up to Jenna, draping his arm around her shoulder and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. He was flanked by his usually posse of cool kids and jocks.

"It's only been like two minutes Jason." Jenna giggled and returned the kiss.

"Well it felt like an hour." Jason said smoothly and Joe tried hard not to gag. "Is this Reject giving you problems?" Jason gave Shane a look of disgust, which Shane was already use to by now.

"Jason!" Jenna gave her boyfriend and annoyed look, "This is Shane. He's actually in our next class! We should all walk over together don't you think?"

"Oh what do I think? What do you think _Shane_?" his voice was impassive, but one look into Jason's eyes and Shane knew it wouldn't be good for his health if he walked anywhere near them.

"Oh you go on a head. I actually have to go… to the bathroom." Shane finished pathetically. "I'll see you guys later." He turned around quickly, only to run into the open locker door again. He fell in a heap at the groups feet, surrounded once again by a sea of books and papers.

"Nice. Real smooth Reject." Laughed Jason cruelly with his posy friends. The group turned and left, Jenna shooting the unfortunate fifteen-year-old an apologetic look.

"Oh yeah, I'm as smooth as rocky road ice cream." Shane grumbled to no one in particular. He gathered up his books and headed off in the direction of his first class.

**I know what you're thinking, "OHMYGOSH! That was JASON!" All I have to say is 'Down girls!' We'll see him again soon!' Writing awkward clumsy Shane was ubber fun! Hope it turned out okay! More to come soon if you review! PEACE!**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Here's another chapter! Let me know what you think!  


**I do not own Camp.**

Shane was the first to finish his exam. The professor had told them if they finished early they were free to leave, seeing how it was the last class of the day. Shane had brought his work uniform to school with him so he could change and go straight to the diner from school. He changed in the bathroom and went to his locker to grab the textbooks he would need for his homework that night.

"Shane Smith?" Shane looked up from his locker to see who was addressing him. It was the school secretary, Mrs. Pringle. The forty something secretary approached Shane stiffly, "The Headmaster…" she gave Shane's work uniform a critical once over and he shifted uncomfortably. He knew he must look a mess, "…Would like to speak with you."

"Right now?" Shane asked curiously, a slight panic building inside of him. What had he done now? Mrs. Pringle just looked at him coldly and Shane nodded, "Right." He quickly shoved the remaining textbooks in his bag before shutting the locker and following the secretary down the hall to the Headmaster's office. Shane tried to make himself look semi presentable, tucking in his shirt and attempting to smooth the wrinkles out of his stained pants. Shane heard Mrs. Pringle clear her throat in annoyance and he looked up to see that she was already at the Headmaster's door. He jogged up to her as she opened the door for him. "Thank you." Shane said politely and Mrs. Pringle simply nodded stiffly before walking away.

Shane exhaled loudly before entering the spacious office. The massive room was like something out of a movie. The walls were lined with old looking books, and the oak wood paneling seemed to glow under the intense sunlight coming though the massive glass windows behind the headmaster's desk. He saw that the portly Headmaster Charles was talking animatedly to someone on the phone and did not notice that Shane had entered, so he knocked on the doorframe to get his attention. The Headmaster looked up and smiled warmly at Shane through is graying features, gesturing for him to take a seat in front of his desk. Shane nodded and nervously took the offered chair, setting his heavy bag down by his feet. He was trying to figure out what he had done wrong, but decided it was best not to think about it. He busied himself with again attempting to smooth out the seemingly impossible wrinkles in his pants.

"Yes… Yes I'll talk to you soon! Good day!" He hung the phone up loudly, causing Shane to look up. "Ah Mr. Smith, thank you so much for coming!" he eyed Joe's clothing curiously, but made no comment on his appearance. He opened up a folder on his desk. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you hear yes?"

Shane cleared his throat anxiously, "The thought did cross my mind sir." Shane smiled slightly as the Headmaster let out a hearty chuckle, but it disappeared almost instantly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, yes and no." The Headmaster said cryptically, and Shane couldn't help but squirm slightly in the hard wooden chair.

"Listen, I SWEAR to you sir, that chemical fire I started in the lab last week was NOT intentional-" Shane began but the Headmaster held up his hand for silence.

"I am well aware of that Mr. Smith. I doubt a student with a 102 percent in the class would intentionally cause damage to the school lab. In fact," The Headmaster threw the folder across the desk so Shane could look at it, "I doubt very much that the student with the highest grades in his graduating class at present would intentionally cause any trouble." Shane couldn't help but let his jaw drop when looked at his class rank in the portfolio. Sure enough, Shane Smith appeared at the top of a list of names… with a several point lead over the person holding second place.

"Whoa." Was all Shane could get out.

"Whoa would be putting it mildly, don't you agree Mr. Smith?" a small smile twitched at the aged headmaster's lips as he peered at Shane over his spectacles.

Shane was grinning like an idiot, looking up at the Headmaster and back down at the folder in front of him. The smile quickly vanished when he realized something, "Sir, didn't you say that there was a problem? I'm sorry, but at this moment I don't really see a problem at all."

The Headmaster sighed, removing his spectacles and placing his folded hands on his desk. He looked at Shane critically before he spoke, "I understand you are interested in the Arts programs at Yale, Harvard, and NYU yes?" Shane nodded, still not really seeing the reason why he was here, "Unfortunately it will take more than outstanding grades to get into schools such as those."

Shane scowled and leaned back in his chair in defeat, "Well what exactly do they want sir? A family tree and a birth certificate? Because I'll tell you right now, I will NEVER have either." He said bitterly.

Headmaster Charles looked angry for the first time, "Shane Smith! I never ever want to hear you using the fact that you were in foster care as an excuse for anything, and I mean ANYTHING." Shane coward slightly in his chair, looking down at the floor at his Headmaster's words, "People will always try to make less of you because of this. How are you supposed to prove them wrong if you use this unfortunate reality as a crutch to get through life?"

"I'm sorry sir." Mumbled Shane, clearly ashamed.

The Headmaster sighed, "It is I who am sorry for you Shane. How are you going to get anyone to believe in you if you do not believe in yourself?"

Shane thought on this for a moment, riffling through is tired mind for an answer to the Headmaster's question. "So… how exactly do I get into those schools sir?"

Headmaster Charles smiled, "Well Mr. Smith, as you can see it is not your grades that are the problem, but rather your lack of extra circulars." He saw that Shane still looked slightly confused, "Extra Curricula's like clubs, after school programs, or social organizations."

"Social organizations." Said Shane flatly.

The headmaster nodded, "Yes. Activities that show you are capable with working with your peers."

Shane leaned forward in his seat, "Sir, I don't know if you've noticed, but my peers haven't exactly accepted me with open arms. I mean look at me," Shane pointed at his stained work uniform, "What could I possibly offer them?"

"We'll from what Mr. Harland tells me, you could offer one particular student a great deal."

"Mr. Harland?" Shane looked puzzled, "The theater professor?"

"Indeed. Mr. Harland tells me that you are one of the most interesting and…" Headmaster Charles paused, as if searching for the right word, "creative students he's ever had. Apparently you have excellent stage presence Mr. Smith."

Shane blushed slightly, "Well, it's one of my favorite classes! How often do you get to be someone else?" The Headmaster laughed at Shane's enthusiasm, and Shane couldn't help but smirk. "But sir, I still don't see what this has to do with-"

"Nathanial Grey." Interrupted the Headmaster, and Shane couldn't help but grown inwardly. _There was more than one of them_? _Fantastic_. "He's just recently transferred in actually. Normally we don't have students as young as him in our program, but he is an incredibly talented twelve-year-old, much like his brother Jason Grey. I believe you are acquainted with Jason yes? He showed you around your first day of school."

Shane grimaced at the memory. Oh yeah, Jason had showed him around the school… and the tour ended in the boys bathroom with "The Talented Jason Grey" sticking Shane's head in one of the toilets. "Oh yes… He, uh, let me know how much I belonged here."

The Headmaster smiled and continued, "Well, I was talking with Nathanial's agent and it seems he is up for a record deal."

"Oh," Shane did his best to sound interested, "that's... good I guess."

"Yes it is very good. However, the company is reluctant to sign Nathanial, as he has yet to bedazzle them with his stage presence. It seems he becomes slightly subdued when he is performing, and his songs lack a certain spark. I think it would be very beneficial for Nicholas if you were to coach him Shane."

Shane laughed, thinking that the Headmaster was joking, but stopped when he did not join in. Apparently he was being completely serious. "Your joking sir… right?"

"Am I laughing Mr. Smith?"

Shane scoffed in disbelief, "Coach him? Are you serious? Shouldn't you maybe have one of the professors do that?"

"I believe Nathanial will respond better if coached by one of his peers, and it will give you the opportunity to earn some points for your Extra Curricular."

The tone of finality in the Headmaster's voice made it clear to Shane that he would have no choice but to agree. With one last sigh of defeat Shane nodded, indicating that he would do it.

The Headmaster's smiled broadly, "Excellent! You and young Mr. Grey can meet tomorrow during your free period."

"Can't wait." Said Shane, trying his best to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"You are free to go now Mr. Smith."

"Thank you sir." Shane peeled himself off the wooden chair and exited the Headmaster's office. He smiled cheekily and gave an over embellished wave to the stuck up secretary as he past, which she did not return, and exited out into the hallway. He passed out through the massive double doors and headed for the bus stop so that he could go to work. Unfortunately the bus pulled away just as Joe rounded the corner. He sprinted after it, but he knew it was no use.

"Awesome." He grumbled. Let's recap shall we? Not only did he just find out he would have to teach the brother of the biggest jerk in school, but he had made a complete IDIOT of himself in front of Jenna Summers. On top of that, he would most definitely be late for work now. There was nothing left for him to do but start walking. "Could this day get any worse?" Almost on cue, a loud crash of thunder boomed over head and it began to rain heavily. Shane let out a laugh of disbelief and looked up critically at the sky, "I just had to ask didn't I?" With that, he began the long, 20 block trek to his place of employment.

**So the question is… is Nate anything like his older brother? Hmmm? And how is the Jonas family doing without good ol' Shane in their lives? We'll have to wait and see!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I actually wrote down the idea for this chapter at work when I was supposed to be taking this fat guy's order! Before i knew it, i went from writing down a loaded bake potato, to a diner scene! I was like "Wow. I need to write the minute I get home!" I kind of like how this it turned out. It sets up a lot for the rest of the story… kinda…. I guess…. Perhaps?****  
****Oh! And Jason's back! : p****  
**

**Let me know what you think!****  
**

**I do not own Camp Rock.******

Shane arrived through the back door of the diner about an hour later, entering the busy kitchen completely soaked to the bone. His damp shoes squelched noisily as he made his way to the front of the kitchen to where the order window was. He could hear Rachel's frantic voice shouting at the cook through the window. "Damn it Benny! No salt! NO SALT! How many times do I have to write it down?!" At the sight of Shane, her eyes narrowed and she darted into the kitchen to confront Shane. "And where the HELL have you been? Huh?"

Shane grabbed a dish towel to attempt to dry himself off, "I decided to go for a swim."

Rachel grabbed the towel from Shane's grip and gave him a harsh look, "You wanna try that again?"

"I missed the bus, I'm sorry."

She let out an exasperated sigh and threw the towel back at Shane angrily, "Damn it Shane! Are you capable of NOT being a freakin' screw up?" Shane was about to answer but Rachel cut him off, "Just save it! I'm effin' swamped right now! I have a section full of Yakavetta's, so make yourself useful and run out table three's food for me would you?"

Shane looked out the window at table three and let out a groan. The table was full of kids from Roland's… Jason Grey and Jenna Summers were among them. "But I… err…" But Rachel had already disappeared out the swinging doors and back into the dining area. Shane knew there was no way around it. He threw the towel in the sink, "Let's just get this over with." He picked up the tray of food and head out to the noisy diner, to cool air conditioner causing him to shiver slightly. He approached the table of his peers, already knowing that no good would come of this experience. They were all talking loudly to one another, but stopped the moment Shane set down the tray and started to laugh hysterically at his appearance.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in huh?" Shane felt his ears turn pink at Jason Grey's comment, and began to wordlessly pass out the food. Shane's heart sank when he saw Jenna placing a hand over her mouth to try to stop the laughter.

"Thank you Shane." Said Jenna politely, giving him a sympathetic look as he placed her food in front of her.

He smiled slightly at Jenna, but Jason's voice soon distracted him, "What's the matter Reject? Can't afford an umbrella?"

"Jason!" Jenna scolded softly.

Shane had finally had enough, "Well, not all of us have a stick up their ass that doubles as an umbrella like you Grey." The table let out a series of gasps and cat calls as Shane turned to leave. Suddenly, a harsh hand grabbed Shane by the back of his shirt collar and he fell back hard onto the table, knocking food and drinks in every direction. Jason towered over him menacingly, keeping a death grip on Shane's shirt collar to prevent him from getting up.

"What the hell did you just say to me Reject?" he tightened his grip on Shane's collar as he spoke, causing Joe to cough and sputter more.

"Jason let him go! He didn't mean it!" Jenna whispered harshly over everyone's laughter.

Jason just ignored her, "I think we need to teach that mouth of yours a lesson don't you?" He pulled his fist back, getting ready to throw a well aimed punch at the unlucky teen on the diner table. Shane could do nothing but close his eyes and wait for the pain, but a deep, authoritative voice cut through the air.

"Is there a problem over here Mr. Grey?" Shane opened his one eye and raised his head as high as Jason's death grip would allow to see who had spoken. A man in an expensive Italian suit with oil slicked hair stood before the table Joe was currently pinned to, looking at Jason with a commanding glare. Jason just stared back, his arm still held up at mid punch, and Shane could have sworn he heard Jason gulp nervously. "I asked if there was problem." The man repeated calmly.

Jason dropped his arm, "No Mr. Yakavetta, there's no problem at all."

"Then why don't you let this young man get back to work then hmm?"

Jason hesitated for a moment, but Shane heard Jenna's pleading voice, "Come on Jason, let's just go. Please!"

Jason, sensing the distress in his girlfriend's voice, released his grip on Shane's shirt, throwing him off the table as he did so. "Come on guys, let's get out of this dump." The group stood and were about to leave when the man's voice addressed Jason again.

"Oh Mr. Grey, I think you owe this young man an apology, don't you?" he said silkily, taking out a cigarette and lighting it as he spoke.

Jason grimiest, but approached Joe and pulled him off the ground roughly by his shoulders, forcefully dusting Shane off as he did so, "You alright there Shane?"

"Peachy." Growled Shane through gritted teeth.

Then Jason leaned in so that only Shane could hear him, "This is _far_ from over Reject. I'll be seeing you soon." Shane could tell from the tone of Jason's voice that it wasn't a threat, it was a promise. He gulped in spite of himself. Jason grabbed his girlfriend's hand started out the door.

"Oh and Jason?" Kevin stopped at the door at the man's voice, turning his head slightly to indicate that he was listening, "We haven't seen your pop in the office lately. Just tell your father that The Boss is lookin' for him, alright?" Jason shot one last cold look at the Yakavetta before walking briskly out the door, his friends following close behind him. It was then that Shane noticed how eerily silent and tense the diner had become. But after one menacing glare around from the man, the diner erupted with sound once again as if nothing had happened. Shane let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as the man approached him. "You okay kid?"

Shane nodded and began to gather the mess of plates and cups from off the table, "Yeah. I'm fine. But just for the record I had the situation under control."

Shane heard the man laugh deeply, "I'm sure you did kid. You're pretty tough you know that?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He turned so that he was facing the Yakavetta, and saw that he was looking at him significantly as he puffed on his cigarette.

The pair just stared at each other for a moment, before the man threw his cigarette into a cup in Shane's arms and took out a wad of bills. "Here," He stuffed a large roll of cash into Shane's shirt pocket, "this should cover those punk's meals and then some."

"Thanks." Shane mumbled.

The man then pulled out a small business card, also placing it in Shane's pocket, "If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, you just call this number alight kid?"

Shane just nodded wordlessly and watched the man leave with the group of other Yakavetta's he'd been eating with. Rachel soon came to stand beside him, holding a pot of coffee as the pair watched the mobsters leave the diner. "You alright?" she asked, coming around so that she was looking at Shane.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"What did he say to you?" asked Rachel curiously as Shane continued to gather up dishes.

"He just paid for the meal and gave me a business card. Told me to call him if I needed anything." He turned and saw Rachel giving him a serious look. Shane gave a reassuring laugh, "Don't worry Rach, I'm not stupid enough to get involved with the Yakavetta's. You know that!" Rachel still looked unconvinced, "Oh come on Rachel!"

"Just take the dishes in the back and clean up this mess would you?" She turned and left to attend to another table. Shane just shook his head in disbelief and headed back to the kitchen. He dumped the dishes in the sink and pulled out the money from his pocked. He counted it and nearly fell over when he saw that the man had left him over a 100 dollar tip. Shane quickly pulled out the card and read the name on it.

_Baracus Yakavetta_

The hairs on the back of Shane's neck stood on end and a chill ran through him as he read the name. _Baracus_… why did that name sound so familiar?

"Hey Shane!" Shane nearly dropped the card at the sound of Benny's voice, "Can you go in the back and grab me a pound of lard?"

Shane looked down at the card, knowing that he should probably just throw it away. _No good could possibly come from keeping this… and yet-_

"SHANE! Did you hear me?"

"Yeah I got it Benny!" Against his better judgment, Shane stuffed the card securely in his back pocket before heading to the back to get the lard Benny required.

**Cue dramatic music! oh snap! Lol! Sorry, just ignore that! Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This has Jason in it! And don't worry Nate fans, he's coming up in the next chapter!******

**Let me know what you think!******

Shane took slow, deliberate steps down the empty halls of the music wing, doing his best to delay the inevitable. It was Friday, and normally he would have a free period right now. Seeing how it was the last class of the day, Shane would either be in the library or heading over to the diner to pick up an extra hour.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to do either, seeing as how he had to "coach" the brother of the biggest jerk in school. Shane wondered with mild amusement if the kid would even listen to someone like him.

Shane was so busy mulling over what Nate Grey would be like, that his mind didn't registered the voices coming from around the corner. Not paying attention, Shane collided head long into someone and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. He looked up to see who he had run it into and his heart sank. It was Jason Grey and about three of his lackey's. He could never catch a break could he?

"Well, well! If it isn't the Reject of Rolland's Academy?" Jason sneered, looking down at Shane in what only could be described as pure disgust.

"Oh hey guys!" Shane attempted to sound casual, but a slight tremor in his voice gave away the intense fear he was experiencing. Four bullies, an empty hallway, and no teachers only meant one thing for Shane, certain doom. Shane picked himself up off the ground, "Listen I'm kind of in a hurry so I'll catch up with you guys later!" Shane tried to side step the group but Jason placed a rough hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"What's the matter Reject? Afraid I'm going to beat you with… oh what was it you said? Oh yeah! 'The umbrella that doubles as a stick up my ass?'" In one swift motion Jason pushed Shane up against the lockers, effectively immobilizing him.

Shane winced slightly at the impact, "Is that what you thought I said?" he laughed nervously, "I think this is all just some big misunder-" he was silenced when Jason slammed him cruelly against the locker once again.

"Oh little Reject, when will you learn?" Jason sounded like a parent reprimanding a five-year-old, "When will you learn that the words that come out of your mouth mean very, very little to me?" he pulled Shane away from the lockers by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the waiting arms of some nameless jock.

"Oh really?" said Shane harshly, struggling against the thug's iron grip, "If what I say means so little then why are you going through all this trouble? Or does this have something to do with the verbal thrashing that Yakavetta threw at your precious ego?" Shane was struck by a silent, but forcefully punch to the gut and he doubled over in pain. He was expecting this really, and he knew he was going to get his ass handed to him… so why not throw a few verbal punches of his own?

"I've had about enough of you," growled Jason, massaging his knuckles after throwing the punch at Shane, "it's time to put you in your place." Shane suddenly felt two pairs of hands grab his legs while another supported his upper half. He was still slightly disoriented from the punch he had just received, but the sound of a locker opening brought him crashing back to reality. He realized with a jolt of terror that they intended to shove him in a dark, cramped locker.

He immediately began to panic. There were very few thing that scared Shane, 12 years in foster care had prepared him for almost anything, but the one thing that he never got use to was the idea of being confined with no light and no way out. Hell he was even terrified of the basement! He still to this day had no idea why… perhaps some sort of sick, repressed memory or something, but he wasn't dwelling on that now. Shane knew that if he was put in that locker it would be hours before someone found him, and he knew for a fact that he couldn't handle that.

He thrashed wildly in his captives arms, "No! NO STOP! Please Jason I'm BEGGING you! DON'T put me in there!" Shane was hyperventilating and literally on the verge of tears. His cries we over powered by the loud laughing and jeering of his tormenters as they slowly approached Joe's intended prison. "PLEASE!"

"Wait!" Jason's voice cut through the air and all three jocks stopped and looked at their leader curiously. Shane looked over at Jason through glossy eyes while trying desperately to regulate his breathing. To his surprise, Shane thought he caught a glimpse of something in Kevin's expression that he'd never ever seen before. What that actual concern in Jason Grey's eyes?

"Jason man what's up?" asked the jock holding Shane's right leg. Jason shook his head slightly, and the usual cold, cruel glare returned to his eyes.

"I think I know what this punk really needs." Jason shut the locker and turned down the hall, beckoning for the group to follow with Shane.

Ten minutes later found Shane coughing and sputtering as Jason flushed the toilet for what felt like the hundredth time, while the boys took turns holding Shane up by his ankles and submerging his head in the porcelain toilet.

Just when Shane thought he couldn't take any more, he heard Jason speak, "Alright that's enough. Let the Reject up." Shane was tossed unceremoniously out of the stall and against the bathroom wall. His back hit the tile painfully and he slumped to the ground, still coughing slightly. Shane saw Jason walk over to him with his backpack, before turning it on end and dumping its contents on Shane's trembling form. He couldn't help but grunt in pain as his heavy textbooks landed on him and his papers when flying in every direction. The bathroom echoed with loud laughter and high fives as the group made to exit the bathroom. Jason knelt down and grabbed Shane roughly by his hair, forcing Shane to look at him, "This was just a warning. Pull a stunt like the one you did at the diner yesterday again and I will end you."

Shane winced when Jason released his rough grip and threw Shane's head against the wall painfully. Jason was about to stand up but Shane's voice stopped him, "Thank you." He said softly, so that only Jason could hear it.

"What?" asked Jason, obviously beyond confused. He had humiliated this kid beyond everything… and he says thank you?

"For not putting me in that locker... Thanks."

Jason stared at Shane with an unreadable expression for a long moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a voice at the bathroom entrance, "Grey? You coming or what?"

"Yeah." He called over his shoulder, still not taking his eyes off of the fifteen year old. He stood up quickly and headed for the entrance, "Your one weird kid." Was all he said, before exiting the bathroom to join his buddies.

"Yeah. I get that a lot." Shane said to the empty bathroom. He sighed and carefully pealed himself off from the bathroom wall before gathering up his books in his arms clumsily and heading down the hall to the music room.

**Yup! It's true! Jason's not a complete jerk! You can join me in a happy dance if you'd like! Lol!**

**Reviews make me happy and I'll post faster! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey All! Okay so I know that some of you have noticed that I've written the wrong names for some of the characters and I know it bugs some of you. Do you think I should just delete what I have so far and make the necessary changes? I'm cranking these out pretty quick so I think if I take it down and start over there will be fewer mistakes.**

**Let me know what you guys want, because after all I'm writing this for you guys.**

**Let me know what you think! And I apologize for any mistakes.****  
**

Shane was half walking, half running to room 507. Sure he didn't want to go, but the last thing he needed was this Nate kid to tell the headmaster that Shane stood him up. He imagined that wouldn't sit too well with old headmaster Charles, and the last thing Shane needed was trouble. He finally reached the closed door of the classroom, and he cautiously put his ear against the door, listening for any life threatening sounds coming from within. Sure the kid was only twelve years old, but life had taught Shane to never underestimate your enemy… for all he knew this Nate Grey could be twice as brutal as his older brother.

To Shane's surprise though, he heard the melodic strum of a guitar, accompanied by a soft, sweet voice. _Was that really coming from a twelve year old_? Shane pressed himself closer to the door, attempting get a better listen to the music coming from within the room. However Shane, being Shane, didn't notice that the door was slightly open, causing it to give way from under the weight of his body. He fell ungracefully into the classroom face first.

"Ouch." Shane's muffled voice echoed loudly against the sound proof walls of the music room. He slowly brought himself to his hands and knees before looking around the room. The room itself was typical of any music room at Roland's. About fifty or so chairs we're placed in levels in a semi circle facing a small stage. There was a grand piano to the left and a long, wooden desk was placed at the front center of the stage.

"Umm… are you okay?" Shane's attention went immediately to the front row of desks where a boy with curly hair was sitting, his legs propped up on the desk in front of him with a guitar in his lap. His expression was one of held both concern and perhaps fear; like he didn't know if he should help the strange person that fell into the class room or run very, very fast in the opposite direction.

"Yeah," Shane grunted out, rising to his feet, "believe it or not, Nate, that was… intentional." Shane knew he had to do is best not to look like a total looser in front of the "peer" he as suppose to be coaching.

"Intentional." Parroted Nate with a look of mild disbelief on his face.

"Umm is there an echo in hear?" Shane said sarcastically, setting down his back pack in one of the desks before approaching Nate.

"Are you… Shane Smith?"

"That I am! It's nice to meet you." Shane extended his hand for Nate to take. Though he was doing his best to sound confident, he was secretly squirming with nerves on the inside. Shane desperately needed these extracurricular hours, and his whole future was basically riding on the success or failure of Nate Grey.

There was a long, torturous pause as he held out his hand, silently hoping with every fiber of his being that the brother of his enemy would take it. He almost laughed with relief when Nate returned the gesture. "Nate Grey." He said civilly, but Shane could tell he was slightly put off by his appearance. "So… why are you all wet?"

_Because your brother is awesome. _"I don't know Nate. Why don't you tell me?" said Shane without missing a beat, and he was impressed at how cool and mysterious he sounded. He hoisted himself up with his arms so that he was sitting on the stage in front of Nate.

"Is that a serious question?" asked Nate, raising one eyebrow at the sopping wet boy in front of him.

"I'll give you a hint: It has to do with the reason you're here." Shane leaned back on his palms and gave Nate a smirk.

Nate brow furrowed, and Shane saw that he was actually making an effort to answer his question. "I'm here because my future in music is all… wet?"

Shane let out a single laugh and Nate smiled shyly, "Close. The answer is first impressions, and word around town is that you suck at making lasting ones." Said Shane mater o' factly, hopping up and pushing the table back slightly so that there was more room on stage.

Nate just gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah… I'm still not getting the reason you're all wet though dude."

"Alright then, let's make this easy for you dude. Come up here and show me what you would do in an audition." Shane walked over to the side of the stage and gestured for Nate to come up and take the center. Nate nodded and set down his guitar, before hopping gracefully up on stage in one fluid motion. He turned to face Joe uncertainly. "Don't face me face the audience!" Nate quickly turned to obey Shane, which interested him greatly, because he wasn't use to kids around his age listening to him. "Just show me what you'd do to at a regular audition." Shane urged.

Nate cleared his throat and shifted from one foot to the other nervously, but then straightened and began to speak softly, "Ehm, I'm Nate Grey. I'm twelve years old-"

"No!" Shane interrupted, "I said show me what you do, not what you say."

"Okay what does what I do have to do with anything?" asked Nate skeptically. Shane answer to his question was to run at full speed towards Nate, before making a sharp right and jumping up onto the wooden table.

Nate had fallen backwards out of the way, afraid that Shane was going to plow him over, and he looked up at Shane with a slightly angry glare, "Dude! Are you crazy?"

"That's not the question that you should be asking." He jumped down from the table and walked over to Nate, "The question you should be asking is; who are they going to remember for call backs? Will they remember, "_Ehm I'm Nate something-something._ Or," he offered Nate his hand to help him up, "The sopping wet kid who jumped up on their table?" Nate took the offered hand and stood, and Shane saw that a light build seemed to go off in Nate's head.

"So… I need to something original… something completely different from everyone else so they'll remember me." Nate said his words slowly, carefully. Almost as if he had just figured out EMC2.

"Very good wee-hoppa!" Shane gave a slight oriental bow and Nate just laughed. "So Grey, what can you do?"

"Well… I like to write songs, but I'm still kinda learning the guitar, so the process is a little slow."

Shane looked over at the guitar that Nate had set down at the desk and his jaw dropped. "Dude!" he jumped off the stage and approached Nate's guitar, "Is that a Gibson '86?"

Nate smiled and leapt off the stage to stand by a gawking Shane, "Yeah. It was my mom's."

"And she lets you play it?" Shane asked in astonishment, bending down to inspect the guitar more closely.

"Well… she's kind of… umm…" Nate trailed off and Shane looked over his shoulder, mentally kicking himself.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's cool. Don't worry about it." Nate waved Shane off. The pair stood in awkward silence again, "You can pick it up if you want."

"Seriously?" Shane practically squeaked in excitement.

"Yeah," Nate laughed, "Seriously."

Shane grinned and picked up the guitar, sitting down and strumming a few cords. He closed his eyes, listening to the beautiful sound of the instrument. "Epic." Shane breathed and Nate nodded in agreement.

"I know, it's a sweet little thing isn't it?"

"I'll say! You know I use to have a Les Paul with all the original stings?" said Shane as he started to play the first few bars of Sweet Home Alabama.

"No way! How could someone like you afford something like that?" Nate's eyes widened at how rude he had just sounded, "I mean…"

"No it's alright, I know what you meant." Shane's hearty chuckle seemed to ease Nate, "I found it at the rummage shop on 6th street. It was tossed aside because the neck was bent. I guess the original owner thought it was trash when he couldn't get it to tune right." Shane laughed, "His loss, my gain! The store manager was pretty cool. He helped me fix it and it was the most amazing thing I think I will ever hold."

"Well, what happened to it?" Nate saw Shane's face fall slightly.

"My foster father cracked the neck. And those things cost like, 800 dollars to replace. So I had to toss it." Said Shane sadly.

Nate eyes narrowed slightly, "How did that happen?"

Shane chewed on the inside of his lip, as though debating whether or not he should tell Nate. "Accident." He said bluntly. Removing the strap of the guitar and handing the instrument over to Nate.

Nate could tell there was way more to the story, but decided not to press the matter just yet. "Bummer."

Shane nodded, "Yeah… So anyways, let's see what you got!"

Nate smiled and placed the strap over his own shoulder, "You know," he said, tuning his guitar as he spoke, "The label wants me to write a song for them, something with "heart."" He held up quotation marks with his fingers at the word 'heart' and Shane laughed. "But I don't know… everything I start sounds so generic you know?"

"Well, let see if we can't fix that." Shane smiled at Nate, which he returned. Shane didn't know why, but he felt at ease around Nate. His laid-back attitude and willingness to learn was a welcome change from the usual cold shoulders Shane received from his other classmates. Nate seemed so… familiar… and strangely comforting.

The pair was so engrossed in the song that they completely lost track of the time, and the loud ringing of Nate phone interrupted them. "Great." Nate mumbled before answering, "Hey Jason!" Shane sighed and put Nate's guitar back in its case for him. He couldn't help but overhear bits and pieces of what Jason was saying. Phrases like, _You should have called_, and _I need to know where you are at all times … Yakavetta._ Shane perked up at the sound of that name, but he couldn't make out any more over Nate's annoyed voice. "Yeah I'm sorry, we we're writing and we just- huh? Oh me and Shane Smith… Dude not now…. no I didn't take my shot yet… man chill! I'll take it when I get home! I'll be out in the car in five minutes. Bye Jason." He hung up the phone and grabbed his backpack, "Sorry. Older brothers."

"No it's cool, he sounded pretty worried about you." said Shane off handedly, grabbing his own back pack and slinging it over his shoulder, "It's just kind of weird I guess…"

"Weird?" questioned Nate.

"Yeah well… Jason doesn't seem like the person who would care for anyone…"

"But himself?" Nate offered with a chuckle, and Joe just sort of shrugged in agreement, "Well… it's different with me I guess."

"Why?" Shane couldn't help but ask as the pair exited the building.

Nate paused and thought for a moment before answering, "Because we're all each other has." Shane just blinked a few times, trying to decipher what Nate had said, but Nate had already taken off down the stairs.

"Oh!" Nate stopped and turned to face Shane at the top of the granite steps, "So do you have a free period Monday? Would it be cool if we work on the song some more? I mean we don't have too if you're busy or whatever…"

Shane smiled in spite of himself, "Monday would be awesome."

Nate grinned, "Great! See ya Shane!" Nate waved and sprinted off to one of the limos parked in the turnaround.

Shane let out a contented sigh, and began the walk to the bus stop to catch his ride to work. If he didn't know any better, he might of said he actually made his first ever friend. He considered the fact that it probably wasn't normal to be friends with the brother of the biggest jerk in school… but when had Shane's life ever been normal?

**So there you go! Nate is NOT a douche bag! Shall we commence in another happy dance? Lol! Totally kidding! But seriously... if you want to kick up those heals feel free! I'm sleepy, and my bed looks so pretty right now! **

**Again, let me know what you guys want as far as editing. It's not like a whole lot people are reading this so it would be up to you guys :)**

**Thanks guys to those of you who have reviewed.**

**Polly**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's a small update before work! As much as I want to continue to write, I must go and serve fat people. Let me give you an example:******

**'FAT CUSTOMER: I want your thirty-two ounce prime rib.****  
****ME: Sir, we're out of prime rib.****  
****FAT CUSTOMER: (now angry and glaring at me like it's my fault) how can you be out of prime rib?!****  
****ME: Well you see sir, fat people like you come in and eat and then we run out. I know! Weird right?******

**... I may or may not hate my job.******

**This chapter sort of sets up the drama. Hope you enjoy!**

**Oh before I do, ****Susangel**** brought up and excellent point: The ages of the boys. Jason is 17ish about to be 18, Shane is 15 and Nate is 12. ******

**I do not own the Camp Rock!**

Over the course of the next two weeks, Shane and Nate were almost inseparable. They ended up in the music room almost every free period and sometimes Nate would even come to the diner to hang out with him, something none of Shane's peers had ever done before for. It was refreshing for someone not to be ashamed to hang out with him.

Shane had never realized how passionately he felt about music until Nate because he had always been so focused on getting the grade, and doing better than the person ahead of him. Shane finally realized that there was more to life since becoming friends with the musical boy wonder. Also, Jason had even back off slightly in his efforts to make Shane's life miserable, and he suspected his best friend had had something to do with it. Yes, Nate was Shane's best friend and a relationship like that had its pros… as well as its cons.

"Shane what the hell is that?" Nate's concerned voice interrupted Shane singing a new song he'd been working on;_ Girl from Senior Class_…. Yeah it was just a working title.

"Uh… my new song? I know it's not finished yet and the title blows but-?"

"No." Nate interrupted again and stood, crossing the room and pointing an accusing finger at Shane's shoulder, "I mean what's _that_."

Shane looked down and mentally kicked himself for being so careless. The guitar strap had pulled his shirt collar down slightly, revealing a large, painful looking bruise on Shane's right shoulder; courtesy of Marcus.

"Oh yeah that," Shane attempted to sound casual and pulled up his shirt, "I fell."

Nate gave his friend a look of disbelief, "Oh really?"

"Yeah really," Responded Shane annoyed, standing up to remove the guitar and turning his back to Nate to put it back in its case.

"And that black eye you had last week? Did you fall then too?" Questioned Nate, coming around to face Shane.

Shane did his best to avoid eye contact with Nate, "Yeah."

"Oh and what did you fall into Shane? Someone's fist?" Nate's voice bit into in to the air and Shane couldn't help but wince slightly, but he recovered quickly.

"Dude, just drop it." He angrily grabbed his back pack and exited the room, praying that Nate would get the hint not to follow him. The sound of Nate's voice calling after him told Shane that he would not be getting off that easy.

"SHANE!" Shane pretended not to hear him and continued to walk towards the exit. Nate grabbed Shane's bicep and spun him around to face him. "Man I can't drop it! I know Jason's not doing this to this to you, so tell me what's going on!"

Shane wrenched free of Nate's grip, "And how do you know it's not Jason?"

"Because I told him not to." informed Nate coolly, and Shane just rolled his eyes and continued to walk.

"You shouldn't have done that." Shane spat angrily, "I can take care of myself Nate; I've been doing it for the past 15 years."

"Oh yeah I can see that! If your definition of 'taking care of yourself' is someone using you as a freakin' punching bag then-"

Nate was cut off when Shane turned and slammed him forcefully against a locker, "Quit talking like you know me Nate, because you don't! You don't have any FUCKING idea!"

"I understand more than you think." Nate said evenly, though Shane could see the slight uneasiness in his eyes at Shane's sudden outburst.

Shane let out a snort of laughter and released Nate, "Oh yeah! Poor little rich kid! Daddy wouldn't buy you that pony and now you know how sucky the world can be! Like I haven't heard that sob story before!"

Nate looked hurt at Shane's words, "Is that really what you think of me?" he asked quietly, not looking up at Shane.

Shane felt a slight remorse twinge at his conscience, but he was too stubborn to say that he was sorry, "I have to get to get to work." He said shortly and turned to leave, "You better hurry too, don't want to keep that limo of yours waiting." he called out over his shoulder as he forcefully pushed open the doors and left the building. He noticed that Nate made no move to follow him.

Shane started to feel terribly guilty about half way to the bus stop. He knew that Nate was only trying to help, but he couldn't allow him to do that. If anyone found out then CSA would get involved, and Shane would be transferred to God know where in a heartbeat. As much as he hated the Henson's, he didn't want to risk going somewhere worse; and Shane knew for a fact that there were worse places out there. Rachel and Tyler were probably the closest thing he'd ever had to a family and he just couldn't leave them either. Also, if CSA found out he would more than likely have to change schools, and Shane had worked too hard to leave Rolland's.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he heard the sound of a bus pulling away from the stop without him on it. "DAMN IT!" He didn't bother chasing after it, knowing it was no use. He plopped down the bench by the bus stop and buried his head in his hands. Rachel was going to kill him.

The blare of a car horn caused him to look up and he couldn't help but groan. It was Nate's limo, and it had pulled up alongside him. "Need a ride?" called Nate through the open window.

Shane desperately wanted to say _no_, but he knew he couldn't be late again. With a sigh he nodded and got into the car.

"Thanks." He mumbled and Nate just nodded, turning his head towards his driver and giving him directions. The pair sat in awkward silence for a while, and the tension in the air was so think you could cut it with a knife.

"My life isn't perfect!" Shane jumped at the sound of Nate's voice. "Just because I have money… that doesn't mean my life is better than yours."

Shane just continued to look out the window, "Yeah okay Nate, whatever you say."

He could practically feel Nate's frustration radiating in the limo, and Shane waited for him to make some sort of remark. Instead he heard Nate pound on the window separating them from the driver, "George could we please make stop on Third Street please?"

"Very good sir." Replied George and rolled the window back up.

"Nate what are you doing? I have to get to work!"

"Just relax; it's only a block from the diner. You won't be late I promise." assured Nate as the car came to a stop in front of a large, menacing brick building. Shane noticed with a twinge of apprehension that there were bars on the window. The sign on the front of the building read, Third Street Mental Institution.

"Nate why are we here? Don't the Yakavetta's own this?" questioned Joe as he got out of the car to stand next to Nate.

"I want you to see something. It might help you to understand a bit about me… and Jason." He started up the concrete stairs to enter the building. Shane hesitated for only a moment, before running up the stairs to catch up with Nate.

Once inside the building, Nate navigated the confusing hallways with practice ease. Shane followed closely behind him, trying to block out the occasional moans and screams that came from the rooms they past. Shane was about to ask how much farther when Nate suddenly stopped in front of a tall white door. He turned to face Shane, "Not a word to Jason about this. Got it?"

Shane inwardly laughed at the idea of he and Kevin _ever_ talking but decided it best not to bring up that fact to Nate. He nodded wordlessly and Nate turned to enter a code on a small key pad by the door. There was a buzzing sound and the door unlocked, allowing Shane and Nate to enter the small white room.

The room itself wasn't what Shane had expected. A large bed was pushed against the wall, and the room was filled with several pieces of expensive furniture. If it weren't for the bars on the window, Shane might have thought it to be an extravagant hotel room.

Nate walked over to stand in front of a rocking chair by the window that Shane had not noticed before. It was rocking slowly back and forth and Shane knew that there must be a person in it. He cautiously approached it to stand next to Nate and couldn't help but gasp at what he saw. There was a woman staring blankly out the window, rocking back and forth in the creaky rocking chair and humming softly to herself. Though her dark curly hair had wisps of gray in it and her gently features showed signs of age, she was the most beautiful woman Shane had ever seen. Shane couldn't help but feel like he had seen this woman before. The memory was hazy, like a dream you try to remember two days after you have it. "Who is she?" he asked breathlessly.

Nate was quiet for a moment, "She's my mom."

**Unfortunately work is forcing me to stop here, but at least you know Mama Grey isn't dead! Agian this chapter sets up the drama for the next chapter! I'm ubber excited. And for those of you who like blood, there should be some coming up within the next few chapters! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Drama anyone? ****  
****I won't bore you with a ridiculously long authors note.****  
****I'll just let you read! Let me know what you think!******

**I do not own the Camp Rock.******

Shane snapped his head up to look at Nate for the first time, "_Your mom_?" Nate nodded, not taking his eyes off the woman before him. "But… I thought she was dead."

"Well she might as well be. I never really knew her; she was put in here when I was still a baby. It's hardest on Kevin really… I mean he still remembers her before she…" he trailed off and Shane felt his insides turn to ice as he realized how incredibly selfish he had been. So what if he didn't know his real family. Looking into the lifeless brown eyes of Mrs. Grey, he knew that there were worse fates… much worse.

"I'm sorry." Said Shane, not really knowing what else _to _say.

Nate merely shrugged, "It's okay. Like I said, it's worse for Jason."

"How did this happen?" asked Shane quietly, afraid to even dare asking the question.

"Yakavetta." Nate spat out the name like a dirty word. Shane looked at him curiously, and Nate sighed, "I use to have another brother. My father got into some financial troubles when mom was about to give birth to me. He needed money and fast so he borrowed some from the Yakavetta's." Shane closed his eyes at Nate's words, knowing that the ending to this story would not be a happy one. "Well, my dad didn't take into account the interest that the Yakavetta's would demand and when time came to pay he didn't have all the money. So they took my brother, as an incentive I guess, for him to come up with it. They ended up killing him… he was only three."

"Oh my God." Shane couldn't believe what he was hearing. In all the time he had known Nate, and even Kevin for that matter, had he never suspected anything to this scale. He knew the Yakavetta's were ruthless… but this was appalling.

"My mom kind of lost it after that. She doesn't recognize anyone… Jason tries to visit her every day, hoping she'll remember him but she never does. That's why Jason doesn't really let anyone else in."

"But what about Jenna?"

Nate just shook his head, "They broke up two days ago." Shane looked shocked but Nate didn't look the least bit surprised, "He's won't commit to anything for long… I thought Jenna would be the one to convince him it was safe but…"

"He doesn't want to risk getting hurt again." finished Joe, more to himself than to Nate. Shane almost felt like crying at the Grey's misfortune, but then a thought struck him. "Doesn't your dad work for the Yakavetta's?"

Nate shot a dark look at Shane, "Who told you that?"

Shane held up his hands in a defensive way, "No one. Well… a few weeks back Jason and I got into a sort of… disagreement, at the diner. A Yakavetta broke it up and he mentioned that he hadn't seen your dad in the office for a while."

Nate seemed to relax at Shane's explanation, "Yeah, he's a bookie. After what happened he figured it was best to have the Yakavetta's as friends not enemies. Plus it pays really well. They even cover mom's medical bills."

"What was his name? Your brother's I mean."

Nick laughed slightly, "Actually his name was-"

"NATE!" a harsh voice caused the pair to look up at the door. A livid looking Jason was shooting daggers at his little brother as he entered the room, "What the HELL is this?" he pointed an accusing finger at Shane as Nate approached his brother, trying to quiet him down.

"Shh, Jason just calm down! This is not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?!" yelled Jason angrily, "Nate it's bad enough she's in this place! But now you have to make her a spectacle? Showing her off like she's a goddamn _animal_!"

"Jason, he didn't mean-" Shane tried to reason with Jason but he wouldn't have it.

"_You_," Jason glared at Shane, causing him to back further away from the arguing brothers, "_You _don't get to talk!"

"Don't yell at him like that! I'm the one who brought him here!" yelled Nate, turning his brother around to face him.

"Nate this is by far one of the stupidest things-"

"My son." The words were soft and light, but the force of them caused everyone in the room to freeze. They came from Mrs. Grey.

"Mom?" Jason's voice was shaky and full of astonishment, and Nate's mouth dropped in disbelief. Judging by the Grey's reaction, Shane believed that this was not something that happened often, if ever. "Mom do you know who I am?" asked Jason hopefully.

Mrs. Grey stood from her rocking chair and took slow, steady steps away from it. Shane thought she would start heading towards Nate and Jason, but to his astonishment, she headed towards _him_. Her arms were out starched in almost a pleading manner, "My son! MY son Shane! You've come back to me…" She finally reached Shane and clutched on to him for dear life. "Shane, my son. I knew you'd come back to me."

Shane tried as gently as he could to push off the frail woman, "Mrs. Grey I'm not Shane, at least… I'm not him. I'm sorry."

Shane hoped that she would see that she was mistaken, but his words only seemed to make her more desperate, "No! You're Shane! My Shane! MY SON!" she began to cry hysterically and her grip became almost painful to Shane. He was officially freaked out.

Nate was the first to take action and ran to the open door, "We need some help in here!" Almost as if by magic, three strong looking orderlies entered the room and pried a screaming Mrs. Grey off of a frightened Shane.

Shane stood in shock as they began to tie her flailing limbs to the bed posts, while Nate tried to reassure his mother that everything would be alright. That's when Shane noticed Jason who, besides Shane himself, was the only one in the room not moving. Instead he was staring at Shane as if he was seeing him for the first time.

"Listen Jason, I didn't mean to…" But Shane trailed off when Jason crossed the room to the dresser next to Shane. He picked up a small picture frame and shoved it in Shane's face.

"Look at this."' He demanded.

"What are you-"

"Just look at it!" The intensity in Jason's voice made it clear that Shane had no alternative, so he took the picture in one hand and looked. It was your typical family photo, two boys, a man and a woman, who looked several months pregnant, all stood together smiling at the camera. Looking closer he saw that the pregnant woman was Mrs. Grey, and he could see a bit of Jason in the older man next to her, so that must have been his father. Shane's eyes came to rest on the boy Jason had his arm around and he froze. The messy hair, the slightly tan skin, but most of all the eyes were familiar… frighteningly familiar.

"_Shane for Pete sake! Stop moving and please look at the camera." Came a woman's voice behind Shane. Though it was slightly stern, there was a hint of a loving smile in the voice._

"Jason, just hold on to your brother and smile at the camera."  


_A brotherly arm wrapped around Shane's small shoulder, "Don't worry Shane, we can watch Barney together after this."  
_

_Shane immediately stilled and looked at the person holding the camera. He smiled just before the bright flash..._

"Is that you?" Shane's blinked several times at the sound of Jason's voice. He realized for the first time that that he was shaking and breathing heavily. He looked up at Jason and saw that his eyes were glossy, as if he were on the verge of tears. "Shane?" Jason wasn't just saying his name, it was like he was asking for confirmation.

Shane dropped the picture frame and it shattered at his feet. The noise caused Nate to look up from his mother as the orderly's administered some kind of medicine through a syringe. "Shane are you okay? Jason what the heck did you say to him? He looks like he's seen a ghost."

Jason and Shane just ignored him and continued to stare at one another. Shane slowly began to back towards the door, "I… I'm…" it couldn't be possible… _could it_?

Without another word Shane ran at full sprint out of the room. He bumped into someone lingering just outside the door, but he didn't even stop to say sorry. He just had to get as far away as possible from this place and from them. Shane burst out the hospital doors and tore down the street towards the diner, wincing as memories began to flash painfully in his mind.

_He was at a park with Jason, and Jason let him go down the tube slide first. When he reached the bottom someone grabbed him and took him away. He called out for Jason but he couldn't reach him in time. He was thrown into a van._

It started to rain, but Shane didn't stop running. He shook his head against the onslaught of visions that continued to burst in his mind.

_He was in a small, dark room. The men had come and hurt him and he didn't know why. He didn't know what he had done wrong, to make the men hit him like that. The door opened and a bright light filled the room. He cowered against the damp wall, but the chain on his wrist only allowed him to go so far. "It's okay kid. I'm here to clean you up." The voice was rough, but somehow Shane trusted it. He said his name but Shane couldn't really say it properly. "Bu-Bu…"_

Tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the droplets of rain. Shane's head felt like it was about to explode, like his mind was processing too much information at once. He almost screamed as he burst through the diner doors. He stood in the middle of the dining area, dripping wet and breathing heavily from running while people giving him curious looks.

Shane felt like he was lost even though he knew exactly where he was.

"Shane?" Rachel's concerned voice entered Shane's mind. He slowly looked over in the direction of the words. Rachel was standing next to a table, pen in hand and about to take an order. "Are you okay?"

_Was he okay… he had no answer to that question_. "Rachel... I'm…" but that's all Shane could say before he collapsed onto the diner floor, his body shaking with uncontrollable sobs. He felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him brining him to his feet.

"Megan, take over for me! I'll take him to the back!" Shane clung on to Rachel for dear life as he was blindly led through the swinging doors. She took him back to the stock room, but did not pull away once they entered, and for that Shane was grateful. "I'm here Shane, I'm right here." She kept repeating it over and over again as she rubbed circles on his damp back. shane just sobbed into her shoulder, trying to process the events of the past hour. One thing was for sure, his life had changed… and nothing would ever be the same again.

**Here you go guys! I told you I'd have it up! Your reviews have THAT much of an effect on me! I hope you liked how it turned out. Reviews would be awesome.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter TEN!**

**Sorry for the wait! My account was frozen this weekend and I couldn't get on to updated! I feel bad! But if I get enough support from you guys I'll try and have another chapter up tonight :)**

**Ok, now on with the chapter! it kind of sets up the drama for the next chapter!******

**Enjoy!**

**  
****I do not own the Camp Rock!******

Vinny Yakavetta let out an annoyed sigh as he walked the halls of Third Street Mental Institution. It should be some number three doing the weekly rounds to make sure things were running smoothly, not him. He was entirely over overqualified for something like this, but the Boss usually made his upper elite do things like this from time to time, to make sure they knew their place. Vinny just hoped that with The Boss retiring soon, that things like this would retire with him, especially if Baracus got the position.

An unusual amount of noise coming from a room down the hall pulled Vinny from his thoughts.

"My son! MY son Shane! You've come back to me…"

"Mrs. Grey I'm not Joe, at least… I'm not him. I'm sorry."

_Grey… why did he know that name… oh yes the bookie. His wife was a nutter here._

The noise grew louder and louder and soon a boy, about twelve years old with thick curly hair, stuck his head out of the room, "We need some help in here!" Several orderlies ran past Vinny and entered the room. More screaming and shouting was heard and Vinny hurriedly approached the doorway to look at what was causing all the ruckus.

The scene before him was one of organized chaos. The orderlies were trying desperately to restrain Mrs. Jonas as the curly haired boy whispered soothing thing to the woman who, Vinny assumed, was his mother. But it was the lack of activity coming from across the room that caught Vinny's attention. Two teenage boys stood looking at a picture, the one holding the picture frame was shaking and looking as if he'd seen a ghost. The other boy was looking at him as if he was a ghost.

" Shane?"

The boy, Shane, dropped the picture frame and began to back slowly out of the room, he look overwhelmed and terrified at the same time. The younger boy shouted something at Jason, the other teenage boy, but it didn't seem to register with him; he was too busy staring at Shane.

Shane attempted to say something, but the gravity of the situation seemed to be too much for him. He turned and ran straight for the doorway. Vinny didn't have any time to duck back out of the way before the boy collided with him. Now that the boy was up close, Vinny immediately recognized him as the kid that worked at the diner down the street. But he caught a glimpse of the boy's eyes and an old memory seemed to tug at the mind. However before Vinny even had a chance to process the familiarity, Shane was gone, disappearing around the corner of the hallway.

"Jason? What was that all about?"

Vinny looked back and noticed that Jason was now leaning heavily on the dresser for support, sweat beginning to pour from his brow.

"Nate… it think… I think that was-" but he didn't finish. Instead he ran to the bathroom attached to the corner of the room and began to vomit profusely into the toilet.

"Jason!" Nate cried in alarm and entered the small bathroom before shutting the door.

Vinny waited for a moment to make sure the boys would stay in the bathroom before entering the room. He paused at the bed that held the pathetic looking Mrs. Grey. She was twitching slightly, most likely due to the sedative, and mumbling to herself. Vinny then approached the shattered remains of the picture frame on the floor. He slowly bent down and picked up the picture and studied it, trying to figure out what had been so traumatic that it would cause the Grey boys to act the way they did.

His eyes came to rest on the youngest boy in the photo. "Why does he…" and then it clicked. A memory from long ago burned in his mind. This kid in the photo was dead, Baracus had killed him after his father, Grey, couldn't pay up… at least that's what Vinny had thought. However it didn't take a genius to realize that the Shane in this photo was the same Shane that ran out of the room just moments before. The reaction of the Grey boy's to Shane and the photo in his hands was all the evidence he needed. There was no doubt in Vinny's mind that Baracus has screwed up… he has screwed up big time.

This could change everything.

"Damn it Baracus." He muttered under his breath and walked briskly out of the room. He hopped into the black BMW and sped back to the House, running several lights and stop signs in the processes. He wasn't worried though; no cop in their right mind would pull over a Yakavetta.

He arrived at the Yakavetta House in record time; he didn't even bother locking his door as he raced inside to confront his old friend. Vinny found Baracus in the conference room, going over some paper work with some new clients. "Baracus." Baracus looked up at the sound of his friend's voice, "We need to talk."

"One moment Vinny." He continued to talk to the clients.

"No. _Now_." He stepped out of the room, leaving the door open behind him. He heard Baracus mumble an apology before coming out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"Are you insane? Those were the Chens! I need to close this deal to open up a drug highway in-"

"You have bigger problems." Vinny presented the photo he'd stolen from the Grey's room to Baracus. "Look familiar." His voice was sharp and full of distain.

Baracus studied the photo, and Vinny could see his features soften for at the sight of the child smiling up at him, but his voice was hard when he spoke, "Of course I remember. What of him?"

"Did you take care of him?"

Baracus shifted uneasily, "What do you mean?"

Vinny growled ripping the photo from Baracus' hands and shoving it in his face, "I mean did you KILL HIM?" Silence greeted Vinny for his answer and he let out a laugh of disbelief, "You couldn't do it could you?" More silence followed and Vinny scowled. "Son of bitch." Baracus snatched up the photo and looked around to make sure no one was ease dropping, before pulling Vinny into an empty room down the hall.

He shut the door and turned to face his friend, "How did you find out?"

"Cuz I freakin' saw him at the Mental Hospital! Kid practically ran over me on his way out!"

Baracus looked down at the photo, "Does he know?" he asked quietly, as though secretly hoping he didn't.

"Well considering he was with his brothers and he was in the same room as his mother… yeah Baracus; I think he may have had a _vague _idea of who he is!" Vinny spat sarcastically. A glare from Baracus told Vinny that he had spoken out of place, "Sorry Baracus." He mumbled. Vinny knew that Baracus was second in command next to the Boss, and that Baracus would more than likely become the next Boss of the Yakavetta family.

"Are you going to say anything to the Boss?"

Vinny just let out a laugh, "Of course not. But you know something like this won't go unnoticed for long. It's only a matter of time before the Boss finds out that his Number Two isn't made of stone. This really couldn't have come at a worse time."

Baracus sighed and sat down in one of the arm chairs in the room, massaging his temples and trying to think. "You know what you have to do Baracus," Baracus looked up at Vinny, "You have to take care of him… for good this time."

Baracus scowled and stood, "And why is that?"

Vinny took his friend by the shoulders and looked him directly in the eye, "Because if the Boss finds out what happened, not only will he not make you his successor, but he'll more than likely kill you Baracus! Now tell me, is this punk worth all throwing away all that you've worked for? Is he worth fucking DYING over?!"

Baracus looked away, "Of course not." He said quietly

Vinny released his grip, "Damn right he isn't!" He turned to leave, "Come on. The kid works at the diner a few blocks over. Let's take care of this now before word spreads."

"Wait." Vinny paused, his hand on the door knob as he looked back at Baracus curiously, "I want to be sure. Let's find out where this kid lives. Make sure we got the right Shane."

Vinny just growled, knowing that Baracus was a superior member of the Yakavetta household and that he had to listen to him… no matter how idiotic it might be. "Fine. I'll do some digging and find out the address. I'll call you when I know something."

Baracus nodded and sat back down in the chair, placing a hand over his tired eyes, "Very well."

Vinny opened the door, "And Baracus?" Baracus looked up, "If this kid is for real, we end him… for good this time." With that he exited the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Baracus alone with his thoughts.

**OH YEAH, I WENT THERE! … sorry, I'm just kind of excited about this chapter. Oh, and there will be pain and/or blood in the next chapter… I think it's time ****:) **

**A review would be awesome. Just know that you guys rock and I really can't thank you enough for all the support you've given me!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven******

**Okay. No author's note, on with the chapter! Let me know what you think!******

**Enjoy!******

**I do not own Camp Rock.******

Shane didn't know how long he'd been crying into Rachel's shoulder, but when he finally regained his senses he noticed that they were sitting down on one of the boxes that filled the stock room. With one final sniffle he slowly pulled away from Rachel's shoulder for the first time, but did not dare look at her. He felt like a complete idiot for crying into her shoulder like a baby, he was fifteen-years-old for goodness sake!

"So… do you want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours or do I not wanna know?" said Rachel coolly once Shane had pulled away from her.

All Shane could do was sit there and attempt to wipe away the tears with his damp sleeve. He had no idea where he should begin, or even if he had the energy to relive everything that had just happened. "It's… crazy… I don't know how to say it exactly."

Rachel rolled her eyes and stood up, "Well you better find a way to say it Shane!" she said with a hint of frustration in her voice as she grabbed a towel and threw it at him, "Cuz I've just let you use my shirt as a snot rag for the past 20 minutes, which is not only unsanitary, but completely disgusting." Shane couldn't help but chuckle at Rachel's words. He looked up and saw that Rachel had a ghost of a smile on her face and he relaxed. "Seriously though, I think you owe me an explanation."

Shane let out a trembling sigh, "I think I found my family." The words came out almost at a whisper, as if he was he was afraid someone would jump out and say _just_ _kidding, you're actually a loser_ if he said them too loud.

Rachel blinked a few times after Shane spoke, "Care to elaborate a little?" Shane gulped and began to fiddle with his hands. Rachel, sensing his unease, sat down next to him once again and placed a gentle hand over his fidgeting ones, "Look I know we're not related or even really friends for that matter, but we both have one thing in common: we've pretty much been screwed in the face since day one. Now, if there's even a remote chance of getting you out of this fucked up life then I want to help." Shane knew from the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes that she was being sincere, and it was the first time he had ever felt something remotely close to a family bond. "Now go ahead Shane, spill the beans already."

Shane smiled for a moment before telling Rachel everything. About how he was taken from a family who loved him because his father had gotten mixed up with the Yakavetta's. He told her what he could remember about Bu-Bu, about how the mobster had probably saved his life. Lastly he told her about Nate and Jason, and how his real mother had gone crazy after he'd disappeared. "And after I saw the picture I just knew. I had this kind of… memory and suddenly I was swamped with all these flashes of like, like moments in my life that I forgot… or maybe that I just didn't want to remember." Rachel had been silent the entire time, not interrupting Shane once as he told his story.

Her brow was furrowed in intense concentration, as if pondering how best to react to everything that Shane had told her. "Holy shit." She said directly, leaning back against a box and running a shaking hand through her hair. "It's moments like these that I wished I smoked."

They both laughed a little and fell back in to an uncomfortable silence. Rachel looked up into Shane's eyes and her heart went out to him. He looked so lost and exhausted beyond belief, "Rachel I don't know what to do." His voice cracked pathetically with emotion and Rachel felt tears begin to sting her own eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had to be strong, if only for this moment.

She reached over and pulled Joe into a reassuring hug, "Hey, we're going to figure this out okay?" Shane nodded as best he could into her shoulder and he could tell she was about to say something else when the door to the stock room flew open.

"Rachel! Shane! There you are!" The pair pulled away quickly and saw a read faced Benny glaring angrily at the teens. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm trying to run a business here! And I have are tables full of hungry people out there!"

"Can it Benny! Shane's just had a freakin' emotional break down so just give us a minute alright?" Rachel stood and shot Benny one of her meanest looks.

"Well last I checked I wasn't paying you to have emotional break downs, I was paying you to wait tables! Do you want to get fired?"

Rachel just threw her head back and laughed, "Oh, an empty threat my friend. You know I'm the only one here who can put up with your never ending stream of bullshit!"

Benny turned his head to the side and considered her words, "Alright. Be on the floor in five minutes." and he disappeared out the door, shutting it behind him.

"Freakin' prick." Rachel mumbled causing Shane to laugh and he stood.

"We should probably get out there." Shane sighed and headed out the door, but Rachel stopped him before he could enter the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't, you look like shit Shane. The customers will probably lose their appetite after looking at you. No WAY you're working tonight." Shane tried to protest but Rachel wouldn't hear any of it, "Seriously, go home and rest, you look like you need it."

It was true. The events of the day had taken their toll on Shane, both mentally and physically. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're pretty much awesome?"

Rachel couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, I think I need a Rachel is Pretty Much Awesome Fan Club or something." She joked thoughtfully.

"Cool. I'll make T-shirts." Rachel smiled, ruffling his hair and Shane batted her hand away playfully.

"Get out of here Reject." Shane grinned and headed for the door, "And make sure Tyler get's his dinner!" He waved a hand indicating that he had heard her and exited the diner.

Shane hopped off the bus forty-five minutes later, waving a tired hand at Glenda as she drove away. He walked the two blocks to his house and came in through the basement window. He, Rachel, and Tyler sometimes used this way when they were too tired to deal with the Henson's. Even though Shane hated the basement, he had very little energy to have an encounter his foster family at present. All he wanted to do was check on Tyler and collapse onto his mattress.

Shane ran up the stairs two at a time and shut the door quietly behind so not to draw attention to himself. He was about to head upstairs when he heard yelling and an audible sniffle coming from the living room. His heart pounded in his chest when he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and he raced down the hall to the living room. When he rounded the corner he froze at the scene before him. A drunken Marcus had a firm grip on Tyler's arm and Tyler was struggling to get away, tears pouring down his face. The rest of the family was sitting and watching TV as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening

"You little shit!" SMACK "I asked for a COLD beer!" SMACK "And you bring me this warm SHIT! Are you STUPID or something?!" Marcus swung his hand back to land another smack on Tyler's unprotected face and Shane jumped into action. He knew he probably should have thought this through as he barreled into his drunken foster father, but at that moment he didn't care.

"You BASTARD!" Shane yelled as he landed a punch to Marcus' face. All the pent up rage and anger that he had been feeling for the past twelve years poured out of him with every blow he was able to land on Marcus. "You have NO right to touch him you son of a-" But a pair of strong arms wrapped around his chest and ripped him away from Marcus.

"Get the fuck off my father you filthy maggot!" Boomed Marcus Jr. from behind him. Shane tried valiantly to wiggle free from the ogre holding him captive, but it was no use. He was too weak from the day's events, and Marcus Jr. was more than three times his size.

"Son of a BITCH!" Came Marcus's muffled voice, and Shane saw with a grim satisfaction that he had managed to bloody his foster father's nose. The victory was short live, however, when Shane's livid foster father crossed the room and back handed him roughly across the face before a knee collided painfully into his unprotected stomach. Marcus Jr. released his grip and Shane fell to the ground, clutching his stomach to subdue the pain that had gathered there. He could feel warm blood begin to ooze from cut delivered by Marcus's ring.

Shane felt two little hand grasp his shoulder and begin to shake him, "SHANE! Shane you have to get up!" Cried Tyler desperately, but Shane was in too much pain to even think about moving.

"Honey," said Marcus to his wife, "Take the little one upstairs to his room. Boys, tie this little bastard up. It's time we teach him a lesson."

"Let's go kid." Said Janet as she grabbed a handful of Tyler's hair and pulled him to his feet. Tyler let out howl of pain and more tears began to pour down his face, "SHANE!" he cried desperately as he was dragged up the stairs by his hair.

"Tyler…" Shane tried feebly to push himself up but he felt Ronald press a foot on his back, forcing him back down. Henry and Marcus Jr. force Shane's hands behind his back and begin to secure them with a power cord. Shane couldn't help but wince as the cord bit into his flesh before Marcus Jr. pulled him to his feet.

Marcus grabbed his jaw painfully and forced Shane to look him in his bloodshot eyes. "So you think you can tell me what to do huh?" he released his grip and sent a fist flying into Shane's right temple. He bit his cheek, shutting his eyes against the pain before returning his gaze to his inebriated foster father. "Well you should fucking think again!"

Marcus grabbed Shane by the collar of his shirt and led him towards the basement stairs. Shane barely had time to register anything before he was forcefully pushed down the stairs. He felt every single step collide agonizingly against his battered body and he could not contain the scream of pain when he reached the bottom. He didn't even have time to catch his breath before Marcus thundered down the steps after him and pulled Shane to his feet by his hair. He pinned him against the wall, "Do you think you can talk to me like that? You're a nothing but a foster kid boy! No one gives a DAMN about you!" he back handed Shane and the force of it sent him to the ground.

" I'm n-not a fost-er k-kid! I-I have a- a-" Shane coughed out as he tried to catch his breath.

Marcus bent down with mocked concern, "What was that boy? I didn't quite catch that?" he laughed at Shane;s weakness.

Shane heaved one last cough, "I hav-ve a F-FAMILY!" he declared with a much strength as he could muster.

Marcus just threw his head back and laughed hysterically, "_A family_?" he spat, "Are you serious!? Even if that were true why didn't they try looking for ya huh? Why did they give up so easily?"

Shane felt tears begin to form in his brown eyes, "B-because… bec-cause… " he trailed off helplessly as doubt began to creep into the back of his mind. Why hadn't his family tried harder to look for him? And Jason didn't exactly try to run after him after he found out he was his brother… _No!_ Shane thought, he wouldn't let Marcus manipulate him like that. His words held no truth… _right_?

"I'll tell you why," Marcus grabbed Shane by the neck with one meaty hand began to squeeze, cutting off Shane's air supply, "Because you are nothing!" Shane sputtered as he shook his head, trying to block out Marcus's words. Marcus laughed coldly and pulled him to his feet, not releasing his grip, "It's because no one, and I mean NO ONE, gives two shits about what happens to you." With that he released his grip on Shane's neck, and he leaned heavily against the wall as took in one long, rasping breath. The reprieve was short lived however when he felt Marcus seize him by his shoulder once again pull him roughly towards the cellar under the stairs.

"N-No. Ma-rcus please…" his voice was hoarse and came out barely above a whisper, the will to fight had left his broken body at the sight of his soon to be prison.

Marcus either didn't hear Shane's pleas or ignored them, because a second later Marcus wrenched open the cellar door and threw him inside. Shane's body smashed against the damp wood of the cellar and he slumped to the floor, no longer having the energy to stand up. He managed to raise his head and look up at Marcus, "Get use to this boy, it'll be a long time before you see the light of day again." With that he slammed the door, engulfing Shane in complete darkness.

Shane couldn't stop the tears when he heard the ominous sound of a heavy lock slide into place. Marcus's words seemed echo in the blackness of the small room as Shane tried to bring himself into a sitting position. But the power cord had left his arms numb, and the rest of his body ached terribly. He began to panic in the small space despite his efforts to calm himself. The room around him seemed to get smaller and smaller, causing his chest to feel as if was collapsing within himself.

Shane didn't know if it was his panic attack, the amount of pain he was in, or even the emotional roller coaster of the day, but as he slowly lost consciousness he felt more alone than he had ever felt in his entire life.

_Maybe he really was nothing._

**Okay, so I had a bad week/weekend at work so perhaps that's why the end of this chapter was so painful for Shane. I kind of feel bad… but kind of not. Wow. I just sounded like an epically person.**

**But I seriously hate my job right now. I mean, I go in feeling all optimistic and then the fat people suck it out of me... to the point where I want to punch a baby in the face. It's bad. Perhaps a review or two will bring me out of my slightly cynical mood.**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I felt kind of bad for leaving you guys with such blood thirsty and uncertain ending for Shane in the last chapter. So I'm sitting here, 3 am and updating for you all! Yeah I know I'm awesome, and I never get tired of hearing it! ****  
**

**Yeah. TOTALLY kidding btw. I'm actually not a douche in real life. ****  
**

**Anyways, let me know what you think!******

**I do not own the Camp Rock .******

Shane didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but when he woke his whole body felt numb, and there was a terrible crick in his neck from being in the awkward position for so long. He groaned against the painful throbbing in his skull and knew that he needed to try and sit up.

Shane took a deep breath and attempted to use his right shoulder as leverage, but the minute he tried to move pain shot through his body and he cried out against it. He settled back down in his position, breathing heavy as sweat began to pour down brow. He hated himself for being so helpless… _for being nothing._

Shane gritted his teeth and was about to make another attempt when the sound of the basement door opening caused him to freeze. He heard someone come down the stairs and his heart began to pound loudly in his chest, he didn't know if he would survive another run in with Marcus tonight. A soft glow came through the cracks of the cellar door and Joe waited with baited breath as a shadow blocked out some of the light coming through the gaps in the door.

"Shane?" Shane nearly cried with relief when Tyler's trembling voice reached his ears. "Shane, are you in there?"

"Yeah Tyler, I'm right here," Shane managed to grunt out, his throat was so sore "can you open the door?" Shane saw the door raddled slightly, but it but did not give way.

"Shane, t-there's a big lo-ck on it… I c-can't get it open…" Came Tyler's voice helplessly, and Shane could tell he was crying.

His heart fell at Tyler's words, and he fought back a wave of nausea at the thought of being trapped in the cellar, "Don't worry buddy, it's okay. Can you just go back upstairs to your room? I don't want you to get caught." Shane knew it would be both their necks if Marcus caught Tyler down here.

"No I don't w-ant to lea-v-ve you h-ere by yours-self," Tyler sniffed out. Shane sighed as more sweat began to trickle in his eyes. He was shut them tightly, trying his hardest to stay conscious for Tyler, but it was it was a battle he was losing.

"Tyler please… just…" he trailed off as the edges of vision began to blur. He was about to surrender to the blackness again, but Tyler's scared voice brought him back to reality.

"Shane! Someone's coming!"

Shane's head snapped up, "Tyler! Hide!" he croaked out and he saw Tyler's shadow scamper off somewhere to the left. Shane waited for the ill-omened sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, but they never came. A series of muffled bangs and hushed voices could be heard from outside the cellar door, but Shane couldn't make out what they were saying. He couldn't help but jump when someone gave the cellar door a harsh tug.

"Shane, please tell me you're not in there." Rachel's quiet and frantic greeted Shane and he allowed himself to feel hope for the first time in hours.

"Rachel…" he choked out, struggling against his restraints, "Get me out of here… please…" he had almost no energy left, but the knowledge that Rachel was just a few feet away seemed to put him at ease. He heard another voice with Rachel, but his mind was too tired to process what it was saying, let alone who it even was. Shane could tell someone was fiddling with the lock and a few moments later a loud click echoed through the cellar. The door was suddenly wrenched open and he squinted his eyes against the light.

A tall figure blocked the door way, the light around him so blinding that Shane couldn't make out who it was. Bu-Bu? Shane tried to speak but his mind couldn't form the words and an audible moan came out instead.

"Oh my God." Shane felt two callused hands grip the sides of his face, "Shane can you hear me?"

Shane couldn't believe what he was seeing, "Jason?"

Jason let out a laugh of relief at the sound of Shane's voice, "Yeah man it's me. Listen can you lean forward for me? "

Shane took a moment to gather himself and nodded, "Yeah, just give me a hand."

Jason nodded and wrapped a gentle arm around Shane's shoulder, pulling him forward. Shane grunted with the effort, and he bit back the groan of pain that threatened to escape his lips. Jason made fast work of the knots of the power cord that bound Shane's hands and moments later his arms fell to his sides, practically lifeless.

Shane winced as the blood began to return to his throbbing upper limbs, "Man," breathed Shane, massaging his wrists, "why does it always hurt more when the blood returns to your limbs?"

"Stop being such a pussy Shane and give me your hand." Shane looked up to see that Rachel was offering a hand to him. Though her voice still held its usual bite, Shane saw a few unshed tears forming in her eyes.

He laughed quietly, "Your bedside manner is amazing Rach." He tiredly reached up and took her hand.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to write a book on the subject." She joked.

"Well I'd definitely buy it." Rachel pulled him to his feet, and Shane immediately felt a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him hard. He swayed and began to fall forward, but Rachel steadied him.

"Easy." She said gently, leading him over to a wooden crate against the wall so he could sit down. She began to give Shane a once over. "Anything broken?" she lifted up his shirt to inspect the damage. Rachel gently prodded one of the bruises and Shane hissed in pain.

"Ouch!" said Shane incredulously, batting her hand away.

"Oh chill I'm just making sure they're not broken." Rachel snapped, lowering Shane's shirt. "I think they're just bruised."

"I could have told you that. Add nurse to the list of thing NOT to be when you grow up." Said Shane sarcastically, earning him a death glare from Rachel.

Her features suddenly softened, "How did this happen?"

Shane took his eyes away from Rachel and looked at Tyler for the first time. His drew in a silent breath when he saw his foster bother's cut lip and his right eye starting to swell and turn purple. "Marcus hit Tyler." Shane said quietly, and Rachel let out a low growl.

"Did your foster father do this?" Everyone turned to look at Jason, who was leaning against the basement steps and watching the scene before him. Shane had almost forgotten he was there. "I said did your foster father do this?" Jason repeated with a bit more intensity.

"Jason..." Shane trailed off and Jason grimmest in disgust.

"I'll kill him." He made to head up the stairs but Rachel stopped him, running over to the angry teen and taking a hold of his arm.

"Jason don't, now's not the time!"

"And why the hell not!?" Jason whispered harshly, his eyes burning into Rachel's.

"Because Shane needs you right now… your _brother _needs you." Jason tensed when Rachel said the word brother, and Shane could see the anger begin to filter out of his body. He wrenched his arm away from Rachel's grasp and crossed the basement to crouch in front of Shane.

"Do you think you can walk?" Shane nodded wordlessly. "Good. My car's outside, I'm taking you to my house." By the tone of Jason's voice it wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. He placed Shane's arm around his shoulder to help him stand.

"Wait! What about them?" inquired Shane, referring to Tyler and Rachel.

"Don't worry, they're coming with us." reassured Jason, pulling Shane to his feet.

"Yeah," Rachel gave a cynical laugh as picking up Tyler, "Liked I'd let the school douche bag take Shane anywhere without me. Do I look stupid to you?" Jason rolled his eyes and headed over to the basement window, Joe leaning heavily on him for support. Rachel pushed Tyler up first then followed after. With some difficulty, and many grunts of pain form Shane, the pair managed to help him through the window while Tyler stood watch a few feet away.

Shane barely remembered getting into the waiting car outside his house. Once the group was safely inside, Shane heard Jason tell the driver to take them home. He looked over and saw Rachel with her arm around Tyler, stroking his shaggy hair comfortingly as his eyes began to droop. It was then that Shane noticed how tired he actually was. His head began to lull from side to side as he slowly began to drift off to sleep. But before he did, he felt a gentle arm wrap around him and his head soon fell onto a shoulder. He knew without open his eyes that it was Jason, but he made no move to pull away. Feeling safe for the first time in years, Shane surrendered himself to his exhaustion, but not before hearing Jason whisper something so that only Shane could hear it, "_I'm sorry Shane. I'm so sorry."_

**There you go! Jason to the rescue! Haha! Kind of like Hancock… only not. Yeah. Sleep is good. Leave a review if you can!**

**Oh and this chapter was for The Name's Niki, who took the time to read this little story all in one sitting AND leave a review for every chapter :) Thanks friend!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Twelve:******

**No authors note, just enjoy and let me know what you think!******

**I do not own the Camp Rock.******

Shane woke to the sound of Jason's voice. He blinked a few times and realized that he was no longer in the car but on his back, lying on a massive couch in a strange living room.

"Hey dad, it's Jason, _again_. Listen just please call me back when you get this. It's important… bye." Shane saw Jason sitting next to him in an arm chair, shutting his phone and looking frustrated. He threw his phone on the coffee table and brought his hands up to massage his temples.

Shane attempted to sit up, but he was still sore from his run in with Marcus. He fell back heavily against the pillows with a groan. Jason immediately snapped his head up at the noise, "Shane…Hey." His voice trailed off awkwardly as he sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

"Hey." Shane grunted out, slowly swinging his legs over the edge of the couch and bringing himself into a sitting position. He noticed that medical tape had been wrapped around his wrists, and he could feel the pull of a few bandages on his cut cheek.

"We decided not to take you to the hospital. Rachel said you wouldn't want CSA asking questions… and I didn't want the Yakavetta's catching wind of you so…" he trailed off again.

"Well thanks… I guess."

"No problem." They both fell into an uncomfortable silence, neither really knowing what to say to the other. Shane was having a difficult time wrapping his head around the whole situation. Jason Grey, the biggest jerk in the world and the last person he would think to invite to his wedding, turned out to be his brother. His _brother_! That was something Shane never thought he would have. He could only imagine what was going in Jason's head. After all…Shane was supposed to be dead.

Shane cleared his throat, "So uhh, where is everyone?"

Jason looked grateful for something to talk about, "Oh well, Tyler was getting restless, so Nate took him upstairs to the game room. I think they're playing laser tag."

Shane laughed, "Oh that probably won't end well." He informed knowingly.

"And Rachel is… actually I don't know where she is." Jason said thoughtfully, looking around the room.

"You should check the kitchen. She's a nervous cooker, and I bet she's a little freaked out right now."

"Yeah. I think we're all a little… freaked out." Jason finished lamely. Silence followed his words. "How you feeling?" Jason offered when he saw Shane fiddling with the bandages on his wrists.

Shane looked up and gingerly rolled his shoulders to work out the stiffness, "Awesome." he said bluntly, and he saw Jason crack a smile.

"No seriously man, you okay?" Shane couldn't help but laugh and Jason looked at him curiously, "What's so funny?"

"You." Shane continued laughing.

"Me?" asked Jason, obviously not seeing what was so funny.

Shane immediately stopped laughing and Jason saw a kind of coldness creep into his brown eyes, "Jason, I'm the freakin' Reject! You _hate _me remember?"

Jason's mouth fell open, "I don't hate you!"

Shane just rolled his eyes, "Oh really?" his voice was dripping with disbelief. "So that swirly you gave me a few weeks ago was what? Tough love? Cuz it sure as hell wasn't a high five!" Jason opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. Shane scoffed and stood, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Shane made to exit the room, but Jason grabbed him roughly by the arm and turned Shane around to face him, "Look man, I'm TRYING here!" he half yelled.

Shane wrenched his arm away, glaring angrily at Jason. "And why the HELL do you suddenly care so much?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY BROTHER!" Jason screamed heatedly, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"OH WHAT THE FUCK EVER!" Shane gave Jason a slight push on his shoulders, "You're only being nice because your feel sorry for me! You think that because my foster father throws a couple a punches you need to actually start caring about me!"

"Dude I swear that's not-"

"Well save it man! I've dealt with shit like this my whole life! I'm OVER IT! That last thing I need from anyone is sympathy, especially _your _sympathy!" Shane just stared back at Jason, breathing slightly heavy after throwing his verbal assault.

Jason made sure that Shane was finished and took a deep breath, "You have every right to be angry," Shane was surprised at how quiet Jason's was, he almost sounded defeated, "You have every right to hate me… but you're my brother Shane… and I'm, just- sorry. I'm sorry Shane." Jason broke eye contact with Shane, but Shane continued to stare at him. The tone in Jason's voice made him wonder if he was sorry for more than just being a complete jerk off. He was about to ask but the sudden sounds of lasers stopped him.

Tyler raced into the room, a flashing vest around his torso and he was sporting a pair of green safety glasses, "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" he cried, firing a few shots out into the hallway.

Shane and Jason heard Nate's voice coming around the corner, "Oh yeah? That's what the last one said before- TYLER! Don't go in there!"

Tyler, who seemed to realize where he actually was, turned around and beamed when he spotted Shane standing before him. Before Shane could even blink, Tyler ran to him, and Shane stumbled back a bit and let out a breath as Tyler wrapped his little arms around his waist. "Shane!" he exclaimed happily, "You're awake! I'm so happy you're okay!" Shane winced slightly in pain, the eight year olds grip jarring his bruised ribs, but he did his best not to let anyone see it.

Nate noticed. "Hey Tyler, give the man room to breathe!" He gently pried Tyler away from Shane middle, "Sorry, I guess we got a bit carried away. We didn't wake you did we?"

"No you guys are good," Shane absentmindedly massaged his ribs; "me and Jason were just uh… talking."

Nate looked between Jason and Shane and raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?" he could practically feel the tension radiating off his brothers, "Was it a good talk?"

Shane looked over at Jason and saw that he was still avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room, "Oh yeah. Some real ground breaking stuff. I think we really, uh, broke through there for a minute, say do you have a bathroom?" asked Shane, quickly changing the subject and Nate sighed knowing that probably wasn't a good sign.

"Oh! I know where it is!" said Tyler excitedly and grabbing Shane's hand. "It's down the hall! Wait till you see the bathtub Shane! It's HUGE! It's like a pool right in the bathroom! Its biggest tub I've ever SEEN! Oh! Oh! And Nate said I could borrow a one of his old bathing suits and swim in it later!" Tyler continued talking as he pulled Shane out of the room and around the corner. Jason looked up to see Nate standing at the entrance way and giving him questioning look. He just shook his head, indicating that he would explain later. Nate sighed and nodded before exiting the room as well, following the sound of Tyler's overly hyper voice.

Jason made no move to follow them. He just stared at the space Nate had been standing moments before and sighed. He had pictured that whole scenario differently in his head. Sure he had expected Shane to be… _upset_ with him, but he hadn't expected Shane to shut him down completely. He knew one thing: if Shane wouldn't forgive him, there was no way in hell he would even consider forgiving himself for what happened... for what he had let happen.

Jason rubbed his weary eyes. He was beyond exhausted. He hadn't slept at all, fearing that if he closed his eyes Shane would disappear again. There was only one thing he could think of that would bring him out of his funk, "Coffee." He said to the empty room and then proceeded to make his way to the kitchen. He slowed a little when he heard an unusual amount of noise coming from within. He rounded the corner and was surprised to see Rachel rummaging through his kitchen cabinets, every now and then letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Umm… looking for something?" Jason offered and Rachel yelped at the sound of another human voice. She let out an annoyed noise when she saw that it was only Jason.

"Dude, did you know you have like, 800 cabinets in this kitchen?"

Jason stared at her for a moment, "Well I never really-"

"Why on EARTH would you need so many cabinets? I mean, half of them don't even have anything in them! Did you know that you have one cabinet with a ladle in it? ONE ladle! For an ENTIRE cabinet!" Jason was somewhat disturbed by the crazed look in Rachel's eyes as she spoke, "And anyway ladles don't even go in _cabinets _they go in _drawers_! Preferably by the stove and-"

Jason had finally had enough, he walked up and grabbed Rachel by her shoulders, "Okay stop, _just stop_. Breathe." He instructed, and he was pleased to see her take in one shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," Rachel breathed out tiredly, rubbing her forehead, "I'm sorry I'm just so tired and I can't find the coffee in this massive black hole you call a kitchen. And on top of that I'm still in my work uniform and I smell like diner. It's disgusting."

Jason chuckled, "Well the coffee's in the cabinet by the fridge."

"But the coffee maker's on the other side of the kitchen." Rachel said bluntly.

Jason blinked a few times, "Yeah… and?"

"Well you should put the coffee by the coffee maker! Not on the complete opposite side of-" she stopped when she saw Jason's amused expression, "You know what, never mind."

She crossed the kitchen and opened the correct cabinet, and started looking over the selection before her. Jason cleared his throat, "You know I have a couple pairs of sweat pants you could wear if you want to change."

Rachel grabbed a package of coffee and turned to face him, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, there's some on my bed. You can just go up to my room later and take off your clothes." Rachel raised an eyebrow and Jason's eyes widened after he realized what he had said. He began to stutter, "I mean, not just take off your clothes… but… like, put some back on, after you're done taking off your uniform. Your work uniform that is… and I won't even be there when you do… it… I'll be away, FAR away... on the other end of the house, and there's a door too so you can shut it so Nate… I mean not that Nate _would _peak… neither would _I_ for that matter…but-" he groaned knowing that he was just digging himself deeper. He really needed to just shut up. "I'll just…go get some water for the coffee." He said quickly and Rachel gave him a smirk.

"Good idea."

Ten minutes later, the coffee was done and Jason finished pouring the hot liquid into two mugs. He handed one to Rachel who took it gratefully. She took a swig and spat it back out. "Ouch that's hot!" She exclaimed. She brought the cup to her lips and began blowing on the contents inside it.

"Wow. Coffee… that's hot. _Weird_." Jason teased and Rachel gave him a slight shove. The pair stood in silence for a minute, both blowing on the coffee and taking an occasional sip.

"So I heard you and Shane having one epic conversation earlier."

Jason winced, "You heard that?"

Rachel shrugged, "It was unintentional. I was coming to ask if you had coffee and walked in on you guys having a pissing contest."

"Yeah he was pretty mad, but he has every right to be." Jason took a sip of his coffee.

"What do you mean? Like, I know you were a royal douche to him at school, but something tells me there's more to the story." Jason just looked down at his cup, not daring to meet Rachel's eyes. She let out an annoyed sigh, "You know what? If you don't wanna talk then fine. Just pretend I didn't say anything." She began to exit the kitchen but was stopped by the sound of Jason's voice.

"It's my fault you know? What happened to him." Jason looked up as Rachel stopped and turned to face him. She gave him an inquisitive look, indicating he should continue.

Jason sighed, "At the park that day, I was supposed to be watching him. We weren't even supposed to be at there. Dad had told us to stay in the house but Shane just kept begging me and begging me. I didn't see the harm. The park was right across the street and I figured we could go and come back before anyone would miss us. I remember that I usually went down the tube slide first, so I could catch Joe as he came out." he laughed a little, "But Shane wanted so badly to go first. He said he wanted to be a big boy and catch me for once," The smile quickly faded from his face, "and like an idiot I let him. I knew that I should have kept an eye on him, that park wasn't exactly the safest place in the world. When I came down he was gone. I heard him call out to me, but... but I couldn't find him. I couldn't get to him in time." Jason's voice cracked with emotion, he chanced a look at Rachel and saw that she was staring at him intently with an unreadable expression. He looked away, "So you see, it was my fault. I don't think dad ever forgave me really, especially after mom went nuts. He says it wasn't my fault... but I know better." Jason finished with an edge of certainty, allowing his last words to hang in the silence of the empty kitchen.

"Well isn't that the biggest load of crap I ever heard." Rachel's voice bit through the air and Jason snapped his head up, staring at her in shock.

"What did you just say?" Disbelief etched in his voice.

Rachel laughed in spite of herself. "_I said_, isn't that the biggest load of crap I ever heard." she set down her coffee cup and crossed her arms, "You can't honestly believe that right?"

Jason looked down, "I do because it's true." he scowled as Rachel began to laugh harder, "Look I don't see what's so funny!" he said angrily and Rachel wiped away a tear from her eye.

"That's because you're a self righteous prick!" She took moment to gather her breath, "You seriously think that what happened to Shane is all on you? Jason! You were FIVE YEARS OLD! You didn't know any better! And even if you had gone down the slide first what would you have done? Kicked the big guys with guns in the knee caps? I'm sure that would have ended awesomely." She said incredulously and Jason looked away.

"I could have done something..." he reasoned, but his voice trailed off as he spoke.

"Oh yeah right! Maybe if were like a mini Incredible Hulk and psychic or something." She grabbed her coffee cup and walked over to him, "There was absolutely nothing you could have done, and the sooner you realize that the better. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change my clothes and hang out with people who aren't complete idiots." With that she turned on her heal and left, leaving Jason in a state of mild shock in the large kitchen.

Jason leaned heavily on the counter for support. Rachel's words were like verbal punches to the face. Gradually, he felt himself relax. Jason still felt slightly responsible, but for the first time in years he wasn't plagued by the never ending pain of guilt. Sure it was still there, but the pain didn't seem as intense as it once had.

The sound of the front door opening and shutting caused him to look up. He heard the familiar sound of someone dropping a brief case on the living room coffee table and immediately knew who had entered. He let out a breath and set down his coffee cup, mentally preparing himself for the conversation he was about to have.

"Dad?"

**Oh boy here it comes! Daddy Grey is in the house!******

**I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who took the time to read and review! Nothing makes me happier than seeing your epic comments about my story! You guys pretty much rock, but I'm sure you knew that ****:)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Let me know what you think!******

**I do not own Camp Rock**.

Shane turned the knob of the bathroom sink to cold and splashed the cool water on his face, letting out a long weary sigh. He glanced up to look at his reflection in the mirror and inspected the damage. All in all it wasn't too bad. There was a small cut on his upper lip and a bandage covered a gash on his left cheek. Shane gently placed the pads of his fingers on the bruise forming around his right eye and winced. Yep, it hurt, but at least he was alive.

Shane exited the bathroom and wandered down the hall, making his way to the kitchen. He stopped when he saw Rachel and Jason drinking coffee and joking with one another. Jason said something and started to laugh and Rachel scoffed and shoved him playfully. Shane slowly backed away and slipped round the corner unnoticed. He leaned heavily against the wall of the dark hallway and let out a shaky breath. He clenched his jaw a wondered if he should go in and break up the tender moment, but thought better of it. He was confident that Rachel could handle herself against the likes of Jason Grey. He decided to go and see what Tyler and Nate were up to.

Shane started to climb the stairs but paused when he saw the collection of pictures that lined the walls. His stomach did a few summersaults when he recognized himself in a few of the frames. There was one where Jason looked to be about three and he was holding a one year old Shane in his lap and grinning broadly. They were both wearing matching sailor outfits.

He continued to climb the stairs and came across another one of Jason and himself. This time Shane looked to be almost three and he had a fake microphone in his hand while Jason stood beside him with a blow-up guitar. They both were sporting a pair of fake ray-bands and a look that suggested that they were both bad asses. Shane allowed himself to smile.

He reached the top of the stairs and studied the last few photos. The first thing that he noticed was that Nate appeared in almost all of them, meaning that they were taken after Shane had disappeared. He also noticed that in all the photos that Jason appeared in he wasn't smiling, at least not like he did when he had appeared in the pictures with Shane. Jason looked very serious and almost watchful, as if he looking out for something or someone.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Shane saw Nate exiting a room and quietly shutting the door behind him. He let out a weary sigh and headed towards the stairs, but stopped when he saw Shane standing in his path.

"Oh," Nate started with surprise, "hey Shane."

"Hey Nate. Where's Tyler?"

"Oh he passed out on my bed, finally. I swear that kid has more energy than a gerbil on Red Bull."

Shane laughed, "Dude I know! Try sharing a room with him."

"I couldn't imagine." said Nate honestly, "But he's a good kid though."

"Yeah, he's like a brother to me." Nate's smile faltered at Shane's comment, and he stuck his hands in his pockets and began rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. The pair stood staring at each other awkwardly. Shane didn't understand why this was so weird. Nate was his best freakin' friend for crying out loud! Then he remembered that they were brothers now, so did that mean they couldn't be friends anymore? By the looks of it, Nate was wondering the same thing.

"Looking at the wall of shame?" Nate offered in the silence. Shane looked confused for a second until Nate indicated the wall of pictures on the stairs.

Shane gave a soft chuckle, "I don't know man, I think you pull off the "no front teeth" look rather well." Nate gave a half smile, coming to stand by Shane so that they both were looking up at the pictures, "If anything I think it's an improvement to the way you look now.

"Dude shut up." Nate shoved him lightly, and Shane rubbed his shoulder, jokingly pretending like it had hurt. Their laughter faded and the pair stood surveying the pictures that lined the wall in silence. "I don't want this to be weird."

Shane looked over at Nate, "What do you mean?"

Nate looked Shane straight in the eyes for the first time, "You and me. I don't' want this to be weird. I know you're my brother now, but i' mean we can still hang out... we don't have to stop being friends right?" asked Nate hopefully.

"Are you friends with Jason?" asks Shane skeptically.

"Best friends." Said Nate without missing a beat, which caught Shane by surprise. He stared at Shane intensely, "Shane, Jason's a good guy."

Shane just rolled his eyes, "Yeah man okay, whatever you say." He started down the stairs, but stopped when Nate grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.

"Stop acting like this man!"

"Like what?" spat Shane.

"Like you're some freakin' misunderstood reject! Despite what you may think, Jason does care about you!"

Shane angrily pushed Nate off him and continued down the stairs, "Yeah he cares now. Like he's given me a second thought before he found out I'm actually alive."

"Do you want to know what Jason does every year on your birthday?" Shane stopped dead in his tracks at Nate's words. He didn't turn to face him, but Nate knew he had Shane's full attention. "Every year he drives around the city looking for you."

Shane's insides turned to ice. He turned to face Nate, "Really?" he asked quietly.

Nate nodded and crossed his arms, "At least for as long as I can remember. He makes our driver take him down every single street in the city and he looks for you. He never believed you were dead. He kept saying he would have felt it if you had, even with everyone telling him that you were…. even I said it to him." Shane saw tears forming in Nate's eyes, "But he never gave up. He was always so hopeful, _so sure _that he would find you in the sea of people in the city. And every time he came home without you he looked a little more defeated, a little more dead. Dead Shane. Like everyone thought you were. But he never gave up hope. _Never_. Not once."

Shane found himself feeling guilty for yelling at Jason. As horrible as he had been to Shane, it was obvious that Jason was hurting, and that Shane's disappearance had affected him more than Shane could ever know or understand. Jason was right. They were brothers after all and if he was willing to try, Shane should put in the effort as well… it was the least he could do.

"I didn't know…" said Shane, guilt laced in his voice.

"There are a lot of things you don't know. The only way you'll learn is if you take down that fucking wall you've put around yourself and let people in."

Shane looked down and studied his shoes, unable to meet Nate's eyes, "Nate, that wall is the only reason I've survived this long. I… I don't know if I _can _take it down."

Shane felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Nate standing in front of him, a few tears rolling down his cheeks, "Maybe not by yourself, but I'm here now… and so is Jason. And I know for a fact that we'll do everything in our power to help you. We love you Shane."

Shane allowed a single tear to roll down his cheek after Nate spoke. He was loved. Shane couldn't remember ever hearing that that come out of anyone. Ever. Without another thought he pulled Nate into a hug, which Nate returned, burying his head into Shane's shoulder. "God I can't believe this is really happening."

Nate sniffed, "Well believe it bro, whether you want it or not, you're stuck with us now. Non-returnable and no refunds."

Shane laughed pulling away and holding Nate out at arm's length, "Damn. I should have read that fine print huh?"

"Yeah you should of." Said Nate jokingly, and both brothers laughed.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Shane and Nate both looked down to the foot of the stairs and saw Rachel standing there with her hands on her hips. "You've been brothers for less than twelve hours and you guys are already having brotherly bonding moments? Unbelievable."

Shane laughed and extended his arms out as Rachel climbed the stairs to meet them, "What's the matter Rach? Do you want a hug too?"

"Do you want me to smash your face in?"

"Okay I'll take that as a no thank you." Said Shane laughing and leaned against the wall to let her pass.

"Can you show me where Jason's room is?" She asked Nate, "He wants me to take off my clothes."

Nate sputtered and Shane stood a bit straighter, looking alarmed, "**He said what**?" They said at the same time and Rachel snorted with laughter.

"I'll explain later. Room please?" Nate shook his head and gestured for Rachel to follow him, "Oh, and Jason's in the kitchen." Informed Rachel as though Shane had asked her where he was.

"Thanks?"

"Go downstairs and talk to him Shane. You know you need to." Called Nate from somewhere down the hallway.

"Yeah I'm going I'm going." Said Nate, starting down the stairs.

"And if you guys start having another pissing contest I'll rip your vocal cords out." Called out Rachel and Shane laughed to himself. He reached the bottom of the stairs and was about to continue to the kitchen when he heard the front door open and someone enter the house.

"Dad?" Jason called out from the kitchen. Shane pressed himself against the wall as Kevin passed, not noticing him, and enter the living room. Shane followed as stealthily as he could and peered around the corner so he could watch the scene before him. A middle aged man with wavy brown hair and glass stood by the coffee table, pulling out a few papers from his briefcase and not looking up at Jason as he entered.

"Jason, how are you?" Mr. Grey asked distractedly, flipping through the papers in his hands.

Jason scoffed, "How am I? Dad, I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours!"

Mr. Grey sighed, "Jason we just opened up that new account and you know that I've been absolutely swamped with work. I'm sure whatever it was it could have waited till I got ho-"

"Shane's alive." Interrupted Jason and Mr. Grey stop riffling through his papers and look at his son for the first time. Shane was surprised to see a coldness creep into his father's eyes.

"Jason, Shane is dead." He informed mechanically, his voice hollow and free of emotion.

"No he's not!' Jason insisted, "I found him and-"

"Jason stop it!" Mr. Grey barked and Shane jumped at the harshness in his voice, "Shane is GONE. The sooner you realize that the better." He made to leave the room but Jason stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"No he's not dad, he's here! In this house!"

"Jason get out of my way, I have work to do."

"NO! Not until you LISTEN TO ME!"

Mr. Grey gave Jason a harsh push, "Jason I said that is ENOUGH! I've been putting up with you antics for far too long! You're starting to sound like your mother!" He was about to exit the room but stopped when he caught sight of Shane. "Who are you?" he barked out.

Shane's voice suddenly became hoarse as he stared into the angry eyes of his supposed father, "I-I... I'm-"

"That's Shane." Informed Jason, coming up to stand by his father. "That's your son."

Shane could see Mr. Grey eyes change at Jason words, and he saw after a few moments of studying Shane's face that Mr. Grey recognized him. Shane held his breath as he saw his father make to take a step forward, but he stopped himself before he did.

"No." he said shaking his head, "It's impossible."

"Why? Why is it impossible?" asked Jason, coming around to face his father.

"Because Shane is dead." He tried to reason.

"Dad the police never found his body! We have no proof that the Yakavetta's went through with it! NONE! He could have easily been lost in Child Services."

"Jason-" Mr. Grey was on the verge of tears, as was Jason.

"Dad I'm begging you! Just look at him. If not for me then do it for yourself." Jason pushed his father so that he was mere inches away from Shane, "Please…"

Mr. Grey let out a shaky breath and slowly brought his eyes up to meet Shane's. They simply stared at one another. He couldn't deny that those eyes were so familiar, though he only ever remembered seeing them in his dreams, rescuing him when he couldn't wake up from his nightmares. Shane gulped as Mr. Grey brought up a trembling hand and placed it gently on Shane's face. Shane closed his eyes and allowed the warmth from his fingertips to fill and sooth him. He knew that touch, but it had been ages since he had felt it. It was so caring and full of a love Shane hadn't experienced since he was placed in foster care. It was the touch of his father.

"Shane?" Shane opened his eyes at his name. He couldn't find his voice to answer, so he merely nodded. He was surprised when the man before him broke down completely and pulled Shane into a bone crushing hug. Slowly, the intense reality of the moment began to wash over him and Shane felt the tears start to flow from his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his father, holding on to him as if his life depended on it. "Dad." Was all he was able to choke out and he could feel his father tighten his grip.

"Thank you. Thank you God." He kept repeating over and over and Shane started to cry harder. He soon felt two more sets of arms wrap around him and knew instantly that it was Nate and Jason. Nate must have entered sometime during the whole ordeal. Shane moved his arms so that he could embrace his brothers as well, fearing that if he didn't some unknown force would rip him away from the dream he was surely having.

**Alright I know what you're thinking, WHERE ARE THE YAKAVETTA'S YOU PROMISED US!? ******

**Okay number 1: Chill. ******

**Number 2: I'm sorry! I started writing it and decided that I didn't want that chapter to happen yet because it wouldn't make any sense. But fear not! They Yakavetta's will be making an appearance shortly. ******

**Okay, I work tomorrow, but I'm going to sleep for a few hours and write something before I go in. Your reviews motivate and encourage me more than you will ever know! Thank you so much for your support! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Enjoy!******

**I do not own Camp Rock.******

Shane didn't know how long the four of them stood just holding one another in the living room, but he didn't really care. He was taking in as much of this moment for as long as he could, because life had taught Shane to appreciate moments like these. For all Shane knew this could be ripped away from him in a matter of moments.

They slowly pulled away from one another and Shane felt his father gently grip the sides of his face and run a thumb over the cut on his cheek, "What happened Shane?" Shane looked down at the question. For some reason he felt ashamed that his father had to see him like this. It made him feel so pathetic. "Who did this to you?"

"His foster father." Spat Jason, and Shane could have sworn he heard his father let out a low growl.

The creak of floor boards caused everyone to look up at the entrance of the living room and Shane smiled as he saw Rachel trying to back slowly out of the room. "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." She said sincerely and turned to leave.

"No." Shane crossed the room and took Rachel by the hand, leading her into the room. "You're not interrupting. Dad, this is my foster sister Rachel. Rachel, this is my dad."

Shane was pleased to see his father stick out his hand for Rachel to take, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, wiping away a few tears with his free hand.

Rachel smiled awkwardly and took his hand, "You have a beautiful home Mr. Grey, though the kitchen could use a bit of work." She added off handily. Shane shot her an odd look and Jason began to laugh.

Mr. Grey looked curiously between Jason and Rachel, "Well I haven't been in the kitchen in years… but may I ask why you are wearing my son's clothes?" Shane couldn't help but laugh as both Rachel and Jason turned red. He couldn't recall Rachel ever getting embarrassed. _Ever_. God he wished he owned a camera.

"It's not what you think. Trust me." Assured Rachel.

Mr. Grey smiled slightly, "I'm sure it's not." He looked past Rachel and noticed an object on the floor, "Nate, why is your laser gun out?"

"Oh! Me and Tyler were playing earlier. I guess I dropped it."

"And Tyler is…"

"My foster brother," Offered Shane, "he's eight."

Mr. Grey let out a chuckle, "Anymore children I should know of running about my house?"

Shane smiled and shook his head no. Silence filled the room and Mr. Grey suddenly became very serious, "Shane, do the Yakavetta's know you're alive?"

Shane shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, one of them must because I'm not dead."

"Do you know who?" pressed Mr. Grey.

Shane shook his head, "I can't remember his name. I keep getting these, like… flashes of memories of a big guy in a suit but…" he trailed off; frustrated he couldn't give more information.

"Well, the Boss thinks you're dead. Of that I'm certain." He began to pace the room. "I don't think he has any clue what one of his men did. As far as he knows, you're dead."

"What's he going to do when he finds out I'm alive?" asked Shane quietly. Mr. Grey stopped pacing and stared at his son intensely, not saying anything. Shane's mouth suddenly became very dry. "They're going to kill me aren't they?"

"Like hell they are!" Jason's sudden outburst made everyone in the room jump. "Those bastards won't lay one fucking-"

"Jason!" Barked Mr. Grey and Jason immediately fell silent at the warning. He let out a heavy sigh, "I just need a minute to think."

"This is my fault." Everyone looked at Shane when he spoke, "I should have just stayed gone. I've placed you all in terrible danger."

"Shut up Shane." Rachel spat with annoyance, "They're not going to kill you, not unless they can find you."

"What do you mean?" asked Shane curiously.

"We have to run." Said Nate as realization spread across his face, "We have to get as far away from here as possible. It's the only way."

Shane shook his head furiously, "No. NO WAY. That's insane! You have lives here! I can't ask you to drop everything for me, I won't ask you."

"Well that's just too damn bad!" informed Jason and Shane was about to open his mouth to retaliate but Mr. Jonas stopped him.

"He's right Shane. It's the only thing we can do, and we're happy to do it." He said, crossing the room and placing a firm hand on his son's shoulder, "Your life is more precious to us than anything." Shane gulped and looked down, the words hitting hard. This must what it's like to have a family. It was defiantly something he would have to get use to.

After a moment Shane nodded, "Okay."

"Okay." Said Mr. Grey firmly with a determined look. "Okay."

"Like you had a choice in the matter anyways Reject." Jason joked and Shane smiled.

"Yeah, you'd probably give me a swirly if I said no huh?"

"More than likely." Said Jason off handily and both brothers chuckled. "So… we're cool?"

Shane stared at his brother seriously for a moment before cracking into a half smile, "Yeah. I guess." Jason let out a sigh of relief and the pair pounded fists.

"I feel like I should be clapping or something." Said Rachel, crossing her arms as Nate nodded in agreement.

"I know the feeling." Said Nate, mirroring her stance.

Shane and Jason both rolled their eyes, "Dude it's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, and Global Warming is a figment of my imagination." muttered Rachel, and everyone in the room laughed after she spoke.

"Alright guys we need to get serious." Said Mr. Grey, heading over to the coffee table and grabbing his briefcase. "We need to act fast. The Yakavetta's have eyes everywhere, so for all we know they could be looking for you right now."

Jason nodded, "What do we need to do?"

"Pack whatever you can fit into the car and find anything that might be worth some money."

"Why? Can't we just take out what we have at the bank?" asked Nate in confusion.

Mr. Grey shook his head, "No, it's too risky. Yakavetta's will be watching it and if I waltz in there demanding to withdraw my account they'll know something's up." He walked to the doorway and grabbed his coat.

"Where are you going?" asked Jason coming up to his father.

"To get your mother," he pulled on his jacket, "be ready to leave when I get back. Shane, do you need anything from your old house?"

"No, they're already here."

"What?" asked his father in confusion and he gestured to Rachel beside him. "The other one's upstairs."

Rachel let out a short snort, "Shane, your father asked if there was anything you _need _from the house, as in legitimate objects. And Survey Says: I'm not an object, but thanks for playing." She gave him a pat on the shoulder but Shane didn't smile.

"Rachel, you and Tyler are coming with us. No way are you going back to that house with those psychos."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Shane, in case you've failed to notice, I've been in foster care my whole life so it's nothing new to me. And besides, I turn 18 in like a month. I'm pretty sure I can handle a few weeks in a house full of inbred retards. And I got Tyler covered so don't worry about us okay? We'll be fine."

"I won't have to worry because you're going with us." Said Shane seriously.

"Shane drop it." She growled out angrily, beginning to get annoyed with his stubbornness.

"No he's right." Jason spoke up, "If the Yakavetta's find out where Shane lives they'll come after him. Once they find out you helped us they won't ask questions, they'll just kill you."

Rachel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, "You don't know that."

"I've seen them kill for less." Said Mr. Grey from the doorway.

Rachel bit her bottom lip and began to rub her arms, mulling over the realization of the situation. "Look, you don't have to actually stay with us alright?" reason Jason, "We'll take you where ever you want to go, but you and Tyler need to get out of this city. Tonight."

"Anywhere I want to go?" asked Rachel quietly and Jason nodded. Rachel took in a shaky breath, "Okay, but I need to grab a few things from my room. I'll be back in a half hour."

"Wait you're not going back there by yourself, I'm coming with you." Said Shane protectively, following after Rachel.

"And you're not going anywhere without me. Last time I let you out of my sight you got yourself kidnapped." Said Jason seriously, and Rachel scoffed.

"Guys I don't need body guards," said Rachel with annoyance, "especially ones that have the combined muscle mass of a twelve year old girl."

"Hey!" cried Shane and Jason at the same time.

"ENOUGH!" barked Mr. Gret and everyone in the room stopped arguing. "We're wasting time. Jason, you take one of the cars in the garage and drive these two over to the house to get their stuff. Nate, you stay here with Tyler. Both of you start getting together your mother's jewelry, and anything else that might be valuable. Grab the suitcases from the attic and Jason, Shane and Rachel will help pack when they get back. Everyone clear?" A chorus of 'yes sirs' filled the living room and Mr. Grey nodded with approval. "Good. Now let's move."

Twenty minutes later Shane, Rachel, and Jason all entered through the window in the basement of the Henson house. "Okay," Shane whispered as the trio crept up the stairs, "It's almost 8 so the family should be watching Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader. If we're quiet we can sneak up the stairs unnoticed."

"Or I could punch some faces in." suggested Jason and Rachel shot him a look.

"Try it and I'll punch your face in. Got it?"

"You could try." Said Jason in a manly voice.

"Why do I not feel intimidated right now?" The pair were so busy arguing that they didn't noticed Shane had stopped at the top of the stairs. They crashed into him and they all fell through the doorway in a crumpled heap.

"Shane! For the love of God why did you st-" But Rachel fell silent at the scene before her. The whole house was trashed. Tables were over turned and cabinets hung off of hinges. It looked as if a hurricane had blown through the house. Someone had been looking for something.

"Oh no." Shane breathed. He jumped to his feet and raced up the stairs, Rachel and Jason following closely behind him. He ran straight for the open door of their room and his heart fell when he saw that it too had been ransacked. "No, no, no…" he began to sift through the debris of his up turned desk.

Rachel and Jason stood at the doorway, "Shit." She breathed and slowly entered the room.

"What is he looking for?" asked Jason as he watched his brother search franticly for something that obviously wasn't there.

"His box." Said Rachel, couching down to push over one of the wrecked mattresses on the floor so she could get to a loose floor board underneath it.

"His what?"

"My box!" cried Shane desperately as he sifted through a pile of clothing. "It has everything in it! My CSA papers, the note and the toy car I was found with, and a picture of me the day I was discovered at the CSA building. I was pretty banged up. Jason, if they find that stuff they'll figure out who I am! They'll know I'm not dead."

"Oh shit." Breathed Jason, entering the room to help Shane search.

After a few minutes Shane knew that it was gone. "FUCK! It isn't here! They'll know who I am! They're going to be looking for me!"

Jason whipped out his cell phone and frantically dialed a few numbers before leaving the room to talk. Shane just sat back on one of the upturned mattresses and massaged his temples. He'd really screwed up this time. He'd finally found the family he'd been searching for his whole life, and now he was going to die. _Fantastic_.

Shane heard Rachel shifting around the room and he looked up to see what she was up to. He saw a small pile of money on her bed, and she was now cutting away a bit of her mattress and pulling out wads of twenty dollar bills.

"Are you like a pirate or something? Where the hell did you get all this booty?" asked Shane, coming over to Rachel's side of the room. Rachel ignored him and added another roll of bills to the pile. "Dude! Haven't you ever heard of a place called a bank? I heard they're epic places to store money."

"Well have you ever heard of Article Twenty-seven smart ass?" she grunted as she began to rip apart her pillow.

"No."

"Of course you haven't. Article Twenty-seven states that foster parents are responsible and accountable for all financial aspects of their charges, including income. It's basically gives your foster parents the right to rip you off. They can claim everything you make and stick it right into their pockets. I learned that the hard way. I told myself I wouldn't let it happen again, and that meant nothing I made could show up on paper. So a bank would probably be the worst place I could keep my money."

"How much is there?" asked Shane breathlessly as Rachel added yet another roll of bills to the growing pile."

"About ninety-five thousand dollars."

Shane's jaw dropped, "Y-you have almost a hundred grand sitting in this bedroom and you didn't tell me?"

Rachel let out a hollow laugh, "Oh yeah! And trust your mouth with that information? No thanks. I'll keep the money."

Shane just shook his head and looked back down at the mattress. He noticed a few official looking papers scattered on the bed and he bent down to picked one up to inspect it. His eyes widened when he realized what they were. "Rachel, are these what I think they are?"

Rachel looked up and drew in a sharp breath, making a mad grab for the papers, "Hey! Paws off!"

Shane just jerked them out of her reach, "Rachel these are adoption papers for me and Tyler. They're signed and everything." He moved his hand again when Rachel made to grab them once more and continued reading. "_Rachel Carmichael_… dude! They're in your name!" Rachel finally succeeded in retrieving the documents. Shane just continued to stare at her as Rachel did her best to avoid eye contact. "Rachel, you going to adopt us weren't you? Once you turned 18..." stated Shane in disbelief.

Rachel scoffed, "Shane, don't make this seem like a big deal. One of my regulars is a DA down at the court house. He hooked me up in exchange for free pie, which is basically nothing. So don't feel all special or whatever."

Shane continued to stare at Rachel in awe, "You were going to adopt us." He breathed quietly.

Rachel just rolled her eyes and started to stuff the papers and the money into a handbag, "Oh stop sounding like I just found the cure for fatness or something. It's not a big deal. I just don't like being alone or when it's quiet. Tyler makes me laugh and you are just… _loud_. Problem solved."

Shane just smiled. He knew for a fact that those papers were not that easy to come by, and that Rachel wouldn't have bothered with it at all if she hadn't cared, _really cared_. Without a word, Shane crossed the room and pulled Rachel into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you." He said quietly into her shoulder.

He could feel her tense muscles relax and she returned the gesture, "Yeah no problem."

The pair was interrupted when Jason ran back into the room on the verge of hysterics, "I can't get a hold of Nate! I've tried calling like three times but he won't answer!"

Shane's insides turned to ice at Jason's words, "Oh God." Without another word, the trio ran out of the house and jumped into the car. Jason drove like a mad man all the way home, ignoring the traffic lights and stop signs that rushed past. They made it back to the house in record time. Shane's heart sank when they pulled into the driveway and saw that the front door had been kicked in.  
"No, no, no, NO!" Jason yelled, jumping out of the car without even bothering to put it into park." Shane reached over and pulled the clutch before racing out of the car after his brother.

"Jason! Wait! We don't know what's in there!" he called out to the retreating form of his brother, but Jason ignored him. Shane stopped just before he entered the door way, afraid of what he would find once he entered. He felt tears roll down his eyes when he saw that the living room was in shambles. Several arm chairs and a coffee table had been over turned and Shane knew that there had been some sort of fight. He attempted to block out the desperate and agonizing cries of Jason as he called out for his younger brother in the empty house, but it was a battle he could not win. All that was left of Shane came undone when he saw a lost looking Jason entered the room, a river of tears flowing down his cheeks.

"He's gone." Jason said without any emotion, "_Nate's gone_."

**I would leave a heartfelt authors note but I'm late for work as it is and I wanted to get something up for you to read!**

**But thanks for reading! leave a review if you can!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I know the real reason you clicked on this thread and it wasn't to hear me ramble. :)******

**Enjoy!******

Baracus and Vinny drove down the dodgy streets of the lower east side. Vinny had poked around and found out that the boy from the diner lived in a foster home in the projects of the city. The minute Vinny had acquired the information, he had contacted Baracus and now the pair was pulling up to a decrepit looking two story house.

"The kid better be in there," grumbled Vinny as he turned off the ignition, "the sooner we get this done the better."

Baracus said nothing to this and exited the car. His mind was racing and he didn't fully understand why. Baracus had committed hundreds of atrocities and killed a countless number of people since joining the Yakavetta's… so why did the thought killing this kid make him sick to his stomach? Maybe because he was an innocent, someone who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, Baracus didn't know. What he did know was that he had worked too damn hard to have his fucking heart get in the way of it now. This feeling, similar to others he had felt in the past, would soon pass… they always did.

Vinny tried the door handle and saw that it was locked. He looked back at Baracus, who nodded and he kicked in the flimsy wood with one, powerful kick. The mobsters entered the atrocious looking living room. The air was rank with the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and Fritos, and empty TV diners and beer cans littered the floor. It was your typical redneck kingdom. The mobsters scowled in disgust.

"Looks like no one's home." Commented Vinny, kicking a stray beer can as he entered the room.

"You start upstairs, I'll look in the kitchen. Find something that could lead us to him. Don't be afraid to get dirty. Looks like this dump could use a makeover anyways." Vinny nodded in agreement and did as instructed. Baracus grimaced as be began to rip apart the kitchen. He knew he didn't have to cause as much damage as he did, but the place reminded him of some of the dumps he himself had been raised in. He secretly hoped that the Joe living here was not the small boy he had spared all those years ago. Had he known that Joe would be forced to live in a place such as this, he would have shot him that day at the park twelve years ago without hesitation. It would have saved everyone a great deal of trouble.

"BARACUS, UP HERE!" bellowed Vinny form the top of the stairs. Baracus destructively overturned a table before making his way up the stairs to his companion. He entered a small room and Baracus knew instantly that this is where the boy lived. It was sickeningly small, and Baracus could see that he was not the only who had been shoved in this drafty, three paneled room.

Vinny stepped over one of the three dirty mattresses that lay on the floor and presented a tattered shoe box to Baracus. Baracus cautiously peered inside at its contents and his heart began to race. Suddenly, all the memories that he had tried to suppress came flooding back. He reached in with a trembling hand and picked up the small toy car he had given Joe that day. He spun one of the wheels with his thumb and smiled in spite of himself. He couldn't believe he had kept it; put it in this box like it was some precious treasure.

He placed the car back in the box and lifted up a few sheets of official looking documents. They were the kid's foster papers, and his heart sank when he saw that they were issued the day he had dropped Shane off at CSA. There was no denying it now. Any feeble hopes that he wouldn't have to finish what he started evaporated as he stared at the batter boy in the photo attached to the forms. Shane Smith was Shane Grey.

The sound of a cell phone made Baracus jump. He shook his head, clearing his mind of the memories and shoved the box in Vinny's hands before answering the phone.

"Baracus speaking." His voice didn't sound like his own. The discovery of the box and the reality of what he would have to do had left his mouth foul and dry.

_"Good afternoon nephew."_ Baracus immediately straightened at the sound of The Boss's voice.

"Good afternoon Boss. How are you?" Vinny, who had been reading over the short note Baracus had left with Shane all those years ago, snapped his head up looking alarmed.

_"Not very well I'm afraid_."

Baracus tightened his grip on the phone, "Oh? Why is that?"

"_Well, I just found out that one of my best men has let me down. _Dismally _so. A man whom I trusted above all others as disappointed me."_

Baracus swallowed hard, "Well that's-"

"_Did you really think I wouldn't find out Baracus_?"The Boss's voice was silky and deep, as though he were reprimanding a five year old. But was enough to make the mobster tremble, "_Did you think that you could keep this whole thing a secret? You of all people should know Baracus, in the Yakavetta household, the walls have ears."_

"My apologies Boss. You'll be pleased to know that I'm taking care of it as we speak."

"_I believe that was the same lie you told me last time. Tell me, what other untruths have passed through your lips of late?" _he questioned smoothly over the phone. Baracus shivered even though he was not cold.

"Vinny and I are at the kid's house now. I wanted to make sure it was him. We've found the evidence and I'm sending a few number three's to-"

"_No_." The Boss interrupted quietly, "_No I want you to do this Baracus."_

Baracus froze, "Me Boss?"

_"Yes you. There is no doubt in my mind that you are sorry for what you have done. This is the only time… that I know of, in which you have let me down."_

"It is the only time Boss. I swear to you." Baracus assured.

The Boss let out a low, venomous chuckle that caused Baracus' blood to run cold, "_If you say so. If you want to regain my trust I want you to bring the boy here. I want you to kill him in front of me_." Baracus' breath hitched, "_Once I have seen the light go out of his eyes, you will be back in my good graces." _Baracus didn't know what to say to this. "_Is there a problem nephew_?" Asked The Boss coyly and Baracus realized he had been silent for almost a half a minute.

Baracus cleared his throat, "No Boss. There is no problem."

"_Good_." Grunted out The Boss, "_I'll see you soon. Do not disappoint me again." _A soft click on the other end told Baracus that the Boss had hung up. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and slowly shut his phone.

"What did he say?" asked Vinny urgently, taking a step closer to his friend.

Baracus looked up from his phone, "I have to kill him… in front of the Boss. To show that I'm still trustworthy."

Vinny let out a sigh of obvious relief, "Oh thank God! So he's not going to blow your head off! This is great!"

Baracus tried to share his friend's joy, but the thought of seeing those brown eyes again, and the unavoidable vision of the light disappearing from them, made his heart stop.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE! BOY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Baracus and Vinny looked at one another and made their way out of Shane's room and down the stairs. They reached the bottom of the stairs and nearly collided with and overweight, red-faced man. He had grease stains on his white, bargain brand shirt, and his bloodshot eyes showed evidence of a hangover. His faced distorted with undeniable rage has he looked upon the two intruders on his stairs. "Who the HELL are you people? I swear to God if you're sale's people or the FUCKING Jehovah's witnesses I'll-"

"We're Yakavetta's" Said Vinny evenly, and the man's face, which had been red with fury only moments ago, suddenly paled.

"_Yakavetta's_?" asked the man breathlessly, eyes wide with fear.

"Yes." replied Vinny calmly. "Are you," He flipped to the last page of the file in the box, "Marcus Henson?"

Marcus sucked in a breath, "Y-yes. What's this a-all about?"

Vinny flipped back to the first page and showed the picture of Shane to Marcus, "We understand that this boy is in your care. We need to see him. Now. Do you know where he is?"

"Dad what's taking so long? I thought you were just going to grab some-" A boy entered the room and stooped dead in his tracts at the sight before him. "Dad what's going on?"

"Go back to the car Ronald." Ronald flicked his eyes nervously between his father and the two intimidating men on the stairs. "NOW!" Barked Marcus, causing the boy to jump and scurried off out the door. Marcus let out a heavy sigh.

"What a strapping young boy you have Mr. Henson," remarked Vinny impassively, "I would hate for anything unfortunate to happen to him or the rest of your family." Marcus' eyes widened in shock at the threat.

"He's downstairs. I have him locked in the cellar."

"In the cellar?" it was Baracus who spoke this time, one thick eye brow raided in question.

"Yes, he need to be disciplined. He went completely mental. Nearly beat me and my family to death."

"Really." Said Vinny, a look of disbelief edged in his features.

Marcus nodded vigorously, "You better believe it! The kid is a complete nut case. I only just managed to overtake him and-"

"You were nearly overtaken by a fifteen year old boy?" Smirked Baracus.

"Well I… he…"

"Just take us to him." Said Vinny, clearly annoyed. Marcus nodded and gestured for the mobsters to follow him through the wreckage of the kitchen and down a set of wooden stairs.

"I'll be glad to be rid of the little bastard anyways. You have no idea how-" Marcus stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the cellar door slightly agar. "No." he breathed out. He practically ran to the door and threw it open. "How did he- NO!" he ran into the cellar and began throwing out items, as though expecting to find a teenage boy behind one of them. He froze when he heard the sound of a gun cocking behind him. He slowly turned and raised his hands in defense, taking a few steps out of the cellar.

"Is this some kind of joke? Are you deliberately trying to waste our time?"

"N-no! never! I swear t-to you, the boy was here, RIGHT HERE!" The man was on the verge of hystarics and there were actual tears running down his face as he spoke, his eyes fixed at the barrel of the gun Vinny was aiming.

"Oh really?" said Vinny impassively, turning his head to glance into the empty closet. In one swift motion, be brought the gun back and slammed the butt of it into the sniveling man's skull. Marcus yelped in pain and fell to the ground, clutching the spot where the gun had made contact with his head. He removed his hand and looked down to see crimson liquid coat his fingertips.

"P-Please! PLEASE don't kill me! I have a family!" Marcus begged from his position on the floor.

"SHUT UP!" Yelled Vinny harshly and Marcus choked back a sob.

"Vinny," said smoothly, almost eerily, "Easy my friend." He slowly walked up to Marcus' trembling form and knelt down beside him. He carefully removed a handkerchief from his pocket and folded it in half.

"Are you going to kill me?" question Marcus fearfully, watching the mobster fold the piece of white cloth.

Baracus stared hard at Marcus for a full minute, "No." he finally said. He could visibly see Marcus relax. "But I'll tell you what you are going to do." Baracus reached up and began to dab gently at the gash on Marcus' left temple. Marcus cringed, but knew better than to pull away. "You are going to return to your vehicle with that lovely little family of yours. Then you are going to drive as far away from this city as possible. If I ever see your disgusting face in the town again, I will make you eat your family's still beating hearts. Am I clear?" Marcus nodded, clearly too afraid to speak. "Wonderful." Baracus stopped dabbing at the wound and suddenly struck Marcus hard across the face. "Get out of here."

Marcus didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash up the stairs, not daring to look back at the mobsters in his basement.

"You should have let me kill him." Said Vinny with a hint of annoyance, replacing his pistol in it's carrier.

"He's no threat to us. We have to focus on the main goal." He started up the stairs and Vinny following closely behind.

"But Baracus, we don't even know where to look for the kid! He could be anywhere."

"We're not going to look for him." Vinny furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What?"

The pair exited the house and got into the parked BMW outside."You know that chancing after rodent never works, you have to draw it out. You have to trap it. We'll make the kid come to us." He started the ignition of the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Where are we going?"

Baracus was silent for a moment, "To find some bait."

**Bum Bum Bum! Shane's impending doom draws ever closer! Muhahaha! ******

**I can't wait to write the next part. I plan on having a bit of pain in there, which is always awesome. ******

**Wow. That sounded bad. ****  
****Awkward.******

**Anyways, let me know what you think! If I get enough reviews… perhaps another update tonight?**


	17. Chapter 17

**It's a bit on the short side but I really wanted to get something up! I can't wait for the next chapter!! thanks to all who reviewed! it makes my life that much more sweet.******

**Let me know what you think!**

Shane sat in the living room in a daze, seemingly unaware of the chaos surrounding him. The cops had shown up about an hour ago, not long after Mr. Grey had returned, and were now setting up a kind of home base in the Grey's dining room. They had found Tyler sobbing hysterically from behind the couch and Shane nearly cried when they discovered him. Not only because his foster brother was safe, but because he had hoped that Tyler would be able to give some insight into where Nate had been taken, but he was sadly disappointed. All Tyler was able to tell them was how Nate had shoved him behind the couch and told him to be quiet when someone tried to break the door down. All he heard after that was a lot of yelling and banging and then nothing.

Nothing.

The Yakavetta's had taken Nate and disappeared without a trace.

Shane leaned forward on the couch and rubbed his tired eyes. He looked up and saw Tyler curled up on Rachel's lap, resting his head on her shoulders. Shane grimaced when he saw the dried tear tracts that lined his face. Not long after the cops had arrived, they had cornered the poor kid and started drilling him for information, even though it was obvious he had none to give. They only stopped when a fuming Rachel stepped up and began to pretty much verbally punch the cops in the face. Shane had no doubt in his mind that a few physical punches would have been thrown if Jason had not stepped in an actually restrained her. She hadn't let go of Tyler since the whole ordeal and she hadn't let Shane out of her sight once, as though afraid she would lose them both if she blinked too many times.

"Jason?" Shane looked up to see an exhausted looking Mr. Grey enter the room with a carton full of coffee. Jason, who has been helping a cop set up some equipment in the dining room, looked up. He'd been doing everything he could to help the police. It was imperative that they find Nate soon because of his diabetes. Everyone one was aware of what could happen to Nate if he was deprived his insulin shot for too long, and Jason was doing everything in his power to make sure that didn't happen. "Could you take your mother upstairs to a quieter room?" Shane looked over to the armchair by the window. Mrs. Grey was sitting with a blank expression, her hands folded in her lap. She was still in her white hospital gown, and the light casting on her from the street lamps outside gave her a slightly ghostly, angelic look. She was the most beautiful wounded person Shane had ever seen.

Jason nodded and headed over to where his mother was sitting, crouching down beside her, "Mom?" he said softly, gently taking one of her folded delicate hands into his own. She started a bit at the initial contact, but smiled when she saw who was in front of her.

"Hello sweetie." She said with a dreamy look on her face.

Jason smiled, obviously thrilled that she recognized him. She was getting better little by little. Maybe she would never completely return to normal, but the fact that she talking, let alone actually recognizing people, gave everyone hope."Hey mom, I'm going to take you somewhere a bit quieter alright?" with that, he gently helped Mrs. Grey to her feet and began to lead the fragile woman out of the chaos of the room.

"Sweetheart? Where is your brother?" She asked in a soft, innocent voice. Jason looked up, slightly taken aback by the question.

He cleared his throat, "Umm, he's on the couch over there see?" he indicated Shane across the room and he gave a small wave.

Mrs. Grey furrowed her forehead, "No. Where's your brother Nate? Did you let him get taken away too Jason?" Jason stopped dead in his tracts, "You were suppose to watch him. Just like Shane. Did you lose him Jason? Did you let them take Nate away?" Jason simply stood there in complete shock, trying to comprehend what his mother was saying. _Is that really what she thought?_

Shane thought it best to jump into action. He stood up and crossed the room and took Mrs. Grey gently by the arm, "I got her Jason. You can go help out dad in the dining room." Jason swallowed hard and nodded, surrendering their mother to him.

Shane started to lead her up the stairs and turned back to look at his older brother. He still stood in the same spot, arms crossed and staring pointedly at a spot on the floor. He looked utterly defeated. "Jason?" he started and looked up at his younger brother, "This isn't your fault okay? Mom doesn't understand what she's saying, you know that right?" Jason just stared at him for a moment through unshed tears before nodding and heading off into the direction of the kitchen. Shane sighed and began to help his mother climb the stairs.

Several minutes later, he quietly shut the door to the guest bedroom after persuading his mother to fall asleep. He backed slowly away from it until he hit the wall of the hallway and he leaned heavily on it for support, his fingertips brushing against the cool plaster of the wall. He suddenly felt a rage begin to bubble up inside of him. He was angry at the whole situation in general. His mother was crazy, his youngest brother was gone, his older brother was an emotional wreck, and he didn't even know his father. On top of that, he had placed Tyler and Rachel in danger and the thought of losing them too was more than he could bear. The Yakavetta's had taken almost everything away from Shane and the worst part was there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

He screamed in frustration and punched the wall as hard as he could. Pain exploded in his knuckles but he welcomed it. It was better to feel pain than the numb reality of his pathetic life. It felt so good that he repeated the action several more times. Visions of Jason's pain filled face and the thought of what those sick bastards were doing to Nate just added to Joe's furry. It wasn't fair what had happened to him, to his family. Deep down, Joe knew it was all his fault. He shouldn't even be alive and the fact that he wasn't dead was burden to everyone around him.

"Shane?" Shane whipped his head around and saw Tyler standing at the top of the stairs looking frightened. "Are you okay?" his voice had a slight tremor in it and Shane knew that he was probably crying, though he couldn't tell because his sandy locks were blocking his green eyes.

Shane, who was panting slightly from the effort of pummeling the wall, gulped and looked down at his hand. He noticed for the first time that it was bleeding. "Yeah buddy I'm okay."

"Why were you hitting the wall?" asked Tyler innocently, taking a few steps closer to Shane.

"Ummm…there was a bee." Said Shane, wiping the some of the blood on his work pants and he spat out the lie. He hadn't had a chance to change his clothes yet.

Tyler let out an 'oh' sound as if that was a good enough excuse for Shane to attack a solid wall. "Did you get it?"

"I _destroyed _it." said Shane with a chuckle and Tyler smiled. Shane brushed the back of his pocket and felt something odd there. He reached in and pulled out a warn piece of paper. It looked like it had survived several rounds with a washing machine but Shane could still make out the faded print on it. He nearly dropped it after he read it: it was the card the Yakavetta had given to him in the restaurant weeks ago. He suddenly realized how he could help his family. This was it. This is what he needed to get Nick back.

"What's that?" Asked Tyler, standing on tip toe to read the warn business card in Shane's hand. He immediately pulled it against his chest so that the eight year old cold not read the writing.

"Nothing. Hey listen could you do me a favor? Can you go down and get me something to drink?"

Tyler looked at him curiously for a moment before nodding, "Yeah sure. What do you want?"

"Diet water." Said Shane seriously, he draped and arm around the boys shoulders and lead him towards the stairs. "It should be in the fridge somewhere or in a cabinet. Just make sure it doesn't come from the sink. I'm allergic okay?" Tyler nodded and scampered off down the stairs to get the requested beverage. Shane let out a sigh as he watched Tyler disappear around the corner._ That should keep him occupied for a while_, he thought.

Shane knew he had to act fast. He quickly ran down the hallway to the cordless phone that sat on the end table. He grabbed it and rushed into the bathroom, quickly locking the door behind him. He sat down heavily on the toilet and stared at the phone in his now sweaty palm. With one last shaky breath, he dialed the number on the crumpled piece of paper with shaking fingers. He slowly bought the receiver up to his hear and listened to the flat pitch of the dial tone. After two agonizing rings a deep, rough voice came on the other end.

_"Hello Shane."_

**  
****BUM BUM BUUUUUUUM! Oh yes here it comes! Haha! I'm off to serve rude people. oh the joy. I will more than likely be in a bad mood when I come home, so if you have a moment leave me a little note to come home to so I don't kill a litter of small kittens that would be great ****:)**

**And I'm sorry there was no 'pain in this chapter like I promised, but swear I'll make up for it next chapter!******

**PEACE!****  
****Polly**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey all! Here's another update!! Yup, I ignored my mountain of homework to write this chapter for you. I know I know, it was a hard choice to make, but you guys are worth it haha!**

**It would have been up sooner, but the new layout confused me to no end!******

**And hey! Nate is in the chapter! All Nate fans can now rejoice!******

**Mkay so there's a bit of… blood and pain in this chapter… tee hee ******

**let me know what you think!******

_"Hello Shane."_

Shane immediately sat up straighter as he listened to the voice on the other end. The sound of it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He knew this voice and not just from the diner. "Who are you?"

The voice on the other end let out a cool chuckle that made Shane's skin crawl, "_Why kid I'm hurt, don't tell me you don't remember your best friend_."

Shane's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe it, "Bu-Bu?"

The man chuckled again, "_Don't tell me you still can't say Baracus kid, that's pretty fucking pathetic if you ask me_."

Shane was shocked into silence for a moment, "You… you saved me."

He heard Baracus clear his throat, "_No I didn't_."

"Yes you did!" said Shane indignantly, starting to find his voice once more, "You were suppose to kill me but you didn't! You let me go! You could of-"

"_I'm afraid you presume too much kid. We didn't want there to be a body to trace back to anyone, so we put you in CSA. We thought you'd disappear but then you just had to stir up trouble didn't you? You stuck your nose where it didn't belong. Now you're brother is paying for it_."

He suddenly stood as a familiar rage began to boil inside of him once again, "Where the hell is Nate? I swear if you lay one finger-"

"_Now don't get all worked up. We haven't done that much to him… yet_."

Shane gripped the phone tighter in his sweaty hand, "What do you want?"  
_  
__"It isn't so much of a want, more of a need actually_." Shane was quiet, already knowing what was coming, "_I need you to be dead."_

"_FORGET IT!" _Shane jumped when he heard Nate's voice in the background, "_There's no WAY I'm going to let you fucking bastar-"_ Shane heard an audible smack and immediately Nate fell silent. He cringed, knowing that they had just hit his little brother.

"_You know Shane; it's probably a good thing that I got you out of that home. You parents obviously didn't teach their boys how to respect their elders. He's said some pretty_… colorful _things sense becoming a guest here."_

"_Well what the HELL did you expect huh? You sons of bitches want to kill my BROTHER_!"

Shane heard another loud smack, followed by another, and to his horror another one so forceful that he heard his brother let out an audible cry of pain.

"STOP IT!" Shane cried desperately, feeling more helpless than he had ever felt in his life, "I'll do anything you want just… _stop_. Please…"

"_Of course kid_," He said in a sweet way that made Shane's skin crawl, "_but only because you were so polite. See where a few manors can get you Nate_?"

"_Untie me and I'll show you some manners_!" growled Nate and Shane knew that he was just asking to get hit again.

"Let me talk to my brother for a second, then I'll tell you my answer."

There was another soft chuckle, "_Sure kid, whatever you want. But be quick about it."_

There were a few moments of muffled noises, "_Shane_?"

"Nate!" said Shane breathlessly, leaning against the wall. He couldn't remember ever being so happy to hear someone's voice, "Are you okay?"

"_I'm fine Shane. Listen you can't give them what they want! You know you can't_!"

Shane sighed, letting his body slide down to the floor, "Nate there's no other way. I can't let them kill you, not if there's anything I can do about it."

"_Don't be stupid_!" spat Nate angrily. "_You know the cops are looking for me, it's only a matter of time!"_

"But that's just it bro, you don't _have _time. You're running out of insulin. You could be dead before we find you."

"_You don't know that_." Nate tried to reason, more to himself than to anyone else it seemed.

"That's right I don't know. So I'm not going to take any chances. You're coming home Nate. Your family needs you."

"_And we need YOU_!" Nate was crying now, Shane could tell. "_Shane, don't do it! You don't have to! There's got to be another way! PLEASE_!"

Shane let a single tear role cheek, "I'm sorry."

"_No. No! SHANE_-" But Nate's voice became muffled after that and Baracus gruff voice returned.

"_So kid, what's it gonna be_?"

Shane wiped away the salt tear, "I'll do it"

"_That a boy kid. Didn't I tell you that you were smart_?"

Shane swallowed hard, ignoring the question, "Where do want me to meet you?"

"_Do you know where the old Smithton warehouse is_?"

"The old dump on the corner of seventh and fifth street? Yeah I know it. Is that where Nate is?"

Baracus let out a hollow laugh, "_Of course not. I'll have a couple of my guys meet you there. They'll bring you to your precious little brother_."

"Listen, Nate's a diabetic, he needs to get his insulin shot soon."

There was a pause, "_Then you better hurry_." He said bluntly and Shane scowled, "_And kid? If I so much as smell a cop, I'll break your brother's neck_." Before Shane could even answer, the line went dead, indicating the mobster had hung up.

He stood in shock for a minute, listening to the flat sound of the dial tone. He blinked once then quickly shut the phone, getting to his feet and heading towards the bathroom door. He wrapped his hand around the cool knob but stopped when he heard the commotion going on downstairs. He backed away, knowing that he couldn't very well go out the front door. Too many questions would be asked and he knew that they would try and stop him. He turned and saw a small bathroom window and ran to it. He pushed it open and looked out. He was two stories up, but there was a drain pipe right next to the window.

_Perfect_. He thought and without a second thought he used his shoulder to push out the screen. It fell to ground with a loud clatter and Shane stood stalk still to see if anyone had heard it. After a few moments it was apparent that he was safe. He lifted himself up and out on to the window ledge before grabbing onto the drain pipe and shimmying down. He landed, rather ungracefully, on the soft grass and took off at a solid run down the street.

His heart was pounding loudly in his chest and his lungs were on fire, and so he was forced to stop a block from the warehouse. He bent over, resting his hand on his knees as he tried desperately to regulate his breathing.

It was there, in the semi darkness of moment, when Shane senses seemed to expand outward. He suddenly became aware of the cool air that filled his laboring lungs, the way the wind rustled a few old newspapers in the dark alley to his right, and the smell of the pizzeria across the street. He raised his head and looked up at the few stars that could be seen through the smog of the city night. He seemed to sense the world around him for the first time in his life, things he would have taken for granted any other night. Shane took in every sight, every smell, every noise, every moment… after all, this was his last night he would be here.

The last night he would ever see.

A noise from behind him caused Shane to whip around and squint into the semi darkness of the night. He could have sworn he saw something dart around the corner and he took a step forward to investigate before stopping. He didn't have time to go after someone who probably wasn't there anyways. It was probably just a damn alley cat or something. With one deep breath, he took off at a run once again, heading off in the direction of seventh and fifth.

Upon arrival he scaled the rusted chain link fence and headed into the warehouse only slowing his pace when he entered the abandon building.

The air was thick with the smell of dust and mildew, and the light from the street lamps casted an eerie glow on the old wooden crates that littered the dirt floor. Shane cleared his throat nervously, "Hello?" His shaky voice echoed dully on the walls of the vast building. He waited for a moment for a reply but it never came. He sighed, thinking about heading outside to see if they were waiting for him out there when a hard object suddenly slammed into his left temple. The force of it sent him flying into a pile of boxes, the edges of which collided painfully against his back.

"I can't believe it! The bastard actually showed up!" Shane heard the loud clatter of what he thought was aboard hitting the dirty floor.

Shane blinked furiously to try and clear his vision. He placed a shaky hand on the side of his head and felt something wet and sticky. He brought his hand before him and through a haze, saw that it was blood.

Before he could even register what had just happened he felt himself being pulled to his feet and pushed down to the ground on his stomach. A dark hood was placed over his head, effectively blinding him and a pair of rough hands pull his arms back and begin to secure them with some kind of rope. He unconsciously began to struggle and was kindly rewarded for his efforts with a swift kick to the gut.

"Stop squirmin' kid, unless you want me to smack you with that two by four again."

Shane tried to throw some verbal comment but he was too busy trying to gather his breath from both the hit to the head and the gut.

The minute his hands were tied he was pulled to his feet again. "Go on, start walking!" Shane stood still, trying to regain his balance without being able to see. "I said WALK!" Shane was suddenly shoved forward and tripped over one of the wooden crates that lay on the floor and fell hard on his right shoulder. A cry of agony escaped his lips after he heard a sickening pop. Shane knew from experience that his shoulder had just been dislocated and all his captors did was laugh at his misfortune.

"Damn Ernie! The kid's a bigger klutz than you are!" one of the men laughed thickly as Shane let out a groan of pain from his position on the floor.

"Shut up Bert. Alright enough fun, Baracus wants him back soon and in one piece." Shane was pulled into a standing position and was half lead, half dragged out of the building. He heard the sound of a car door opening and a moment later he was thrown unceremoniously in, landing painfully on his dislocated shoulder. Shane had still been recovering from his brush with Marcus, and the pummeling he'd just received had pushed his to his limits. He was in so much pain he couldn't even fidget into a more comfortable position.

Not long after the car lurched forward and began to take Shane to his brother, and that thought alone was the only thing that kept him sane. He had almost no regrets at the moment. He knew that Jason and Nate would eventually move on, like they had done before. Rachel and Tyler would look out for one another and he had no doubt in his mind that they would be fine without him. He didn't even care that he would be dying at the age of fifteen. In fact, the only reason he allowed the few tears to escape his brown eyes at present was the realization that, for the first time in his life, he had a place to call home…

_And he would never see it again._

**Okay all together now, "POOR Shane!" I'll even admit I felt slightly guilty writing it… but I still did.******

**I wonder if that makes me a bad person…******

**Anyways, I'm off to do my first of many health history's… umm yippy skippy?******

**Sigh. This semester is going to be epic. I can tell.******

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey Everyone! so guess what? I now have a banner for this story! Emma is Mrs Kevin Jonas was nice enough to make one! There is a link in my profile to it so go check it out! Thanks Emma!**

**Secondly, I want to apologize if I haven't replied to your reviews! It's been a crazy week and I simply just didn't have time, but I will do my best to thank you all if you review for this chapter :)**

**Okay, so on with the chapter! Let me know what you think!**

Shane didn't know exactly how long he'd been lying in the back seat, but it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. The car came to a sudden stop and Shane, not prepared for it, fell harshly on the floor and let out an audible groan when the fall jarred his injured shoulder. Before he could even think about catching his breath, he was pulled roughly out of the car and to his feet. He was lead blindly with cruel hands into a house or building, Shane couldn't really tell. The men leading him were conversing and laughing, though he couldn't make out what they were saying over his labored breathing inside the hood over his head.

Shane faintly heard the sound of a door opening and he found himself being lead down a set of rickety wooden stairs. He lost his footing but his captors didn't seem to take notice and he was dragged painfully down by his injured shoulder. He was then shoved roughly into one of the most uncomfortable chairs he'd ever sat on and tied to it. His arms were still tied behind his back and he couldn't help but grunt in pain as they were sandwiched between him and the back of the chair. Once he was secure the hood was ripped off and he coughed several times as cool air rushed into his lungs.

"Welcome to the Yakavetta Manor kid. You comfortable?" Shane swallowed hard against the wave of nausea rising in his battered body. His head throbbed painfully and he did his best to still the spinning room around him. One of the men laughed and slapped him across the face and he shut his eyes against the pain. He blinked a few times and glared back, about to say something when movement to his right caught his eye and his heart stopped. There, bound, blindfolded and gagged, was Nate. There were a few visible cuts and bruises on his face and judging by the uneven rise and fall of his chest he had one or two broken ribs. He was deathly pale, almost ghost like. Shane knew Nate needed something to regulate his blood sugar… and soon.

"Nate?" at the sound of Shane's voice Nate's head cocked to the side and began to struggle weakly against his bonds.

"Shhanwuh?" his voice was lost against the gag, "Ohwagawdnowah!" he doubled his efforts to get free of the ropes binding.

"Nate calm down, everything's going to be alright." Shane spoke firmly, though the pounding of his heart gave away the intense fear he was experiencing.

"Yeah keep telling yourself that kid." Said one of the men thickly. They both made to leave the room laughing, but not before delivering a rough smack on the back Nate's head.

He let out a whimper and Shane saw red, "Hey! I'm here now let him go!" The mobsters just ignored him which made Shane that much more furious. He'd done what they had asked, so why the hell was Nate still tied to the chair next to him? He'd finally had enough, "Hey asshole!" the laughing men stopped and turned to face Shane, "Glad to see you know your names you dumb shits!"

"What did you just say you little punk?" growled the Yakavetta, taking one menacing step forward.

"I said I'm glad to see to see you know your names you _dumb shits_." Shane took special care to emphases the last two words. He really had nothing left to lose; they were going to kill him anyway.

"Why you little-" the man made to advance on him but was stopped by his fellow mobster.

"Bert, no! Baracus and the Boss wanted to know the minute we were back." Bert let out a growl of irritation, "Don't worry man, this kid's gonna get what's comin' to him." This seemed to satisfy Bert and the pair turned to leave.

"Hey! HEY! LET MY BROTHER GO YOU DICK WIPES!" but Shane's words fell upon deaf ears as the mobsters climbed the stairs, shutting the door behind them.

Shane let out a scream of frustration and began to struggle uselessly against his bonds. He stopped when he heard and audible sniffle and he snapped his head up to look at his brother. Nate looked so small and frail, and much younger than Shane ever remembered. Shane wanted nothing more than to go incredible hulk on these ropes and give his brother a great big hug. Nate's pale frame was shaking slightly with silent sobs and the sight broke Shane's heart.

"Hey man, don't worry okay? You're going home soon. Just hang on a little longer." Nate just shook his head weakly and sniffed again. Shane sighed. "Look, I know this is not what you wanted, and believe me I would change it if I could. I mean, the last thing I wanted to do was deprive the world of my freakishly good looks." Nate snorted at Shane's comment and Shane knew that if Nate could, he would give him one of his trade mark eye rolls. He smiled sadly, wanting more than anything to hear his brother laugh one more time, "But the fact is there's nothing we can do about it, and there's defiantly nothing you can do to change it, so I don't want you to blame yourself okay? If you understand nod you head." Shane was silent for almost a full minute until he saw his brother give the tiniest nod of the head and he let out a breath of relief. "Good. Listen Nate I need you to be strong. I need you to be there for Tyler, make sure he grows up to be something super awesome, like a doctor or an astronaut." Nate choked back a sob and nodded, "Oh, and we both know Jason' going to get a little pissy and moody once this is all over and I just need you to tell him from me that it's not his fault either. Let him know that this was my choice and that if he even thinks about taking credit for this by blaming himself I'll haunt his ass. And make sure Rachel doesn't do anything stupid, like try to beat up a Yakavetta or date our brother." Nate let out strangled chuckle and nodded again. "One more thing bro, I need you to do something for me. I need you to keep on living. You… you have a talent man. Your music speaks so people, and I don't want you to keep it all to yourself or feel guilty for sharing it just because I'm not physically here anymore. You have something Nate, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your older brother. I'm saying it to you as your best friend. So… don't stop living. Can you do that for me Nate?" Nate let out a small whimper and weakly nodded his head. Shane felt tears sting his own eyes, but he refused to let them fall. It was then he felt the urge to say something, words that he couldn't ever remember saying to anyone. He felt it imperative to say it to at least one person before he died. "I love you, Nate." There he said it. For the first time in his life he had said those three little words and actually meant them.

A loud single clapping noise caused Shane and Nate to jump. A deep, silky reached Shane's ears and seemed creep inside his body, making his insides squirm. He gave and involuntary shudder. "That was beautiful, just beautiful Mr. Grey. How long have you been working on that?" Shane glared up at an aged, but none the less intimidating man before him. With his clean cut appearance and his gold encrusted walking stick, his very presences in the room demanded authority and Shane knew that this must be the Boss. Cold grey eyes seemed to pierce Shane's very soul and at that moment, he was nothing less than terrified. The Boss made a disappointed clicking noise with his tongue, "I see you are not as talkative as your brother. We had to educate him in the lesson of respect, isn't that right Nate?"

"Fwuhk ewah!" growled out Nate thickly through his gag.

The Boss made that same, annoying clicking noise, "Looks like someone has still failed to grasp the meaning of the lesson." He started to advance towards the blind Nate, raising his cane in a menacing way.

Shane knew what was coming, and he also knew for a fact that Nate couldn't take much more. He had to keep the attention on him, "Maybe he would speak with more respect if there was someone in the room actually worthy of respect." The Boss stopped dead in his tracks, "Oh and by the way, the car service you run here sucks. Whose idea was it to have in bred retards act as schoffers? Was it you? The grandpa with the pimp cane?"

Shane saw a blur and before he could even register that it was a person, was met by a strong, hammer like fist to the jaw. "Does verbal stupidity run in the Grey family?" growled out a deep, menacing voice.

Shane spat out a mouth full of blood so that it landed on the overly polished shoe of the man who had struck him, "I don't know," He let out a heavy breath, "Is being ugly as sin a requirement for being a Yakavetta?" The man before him growled and pulled back a fist again. Shane closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain.

"Vinny!" Shane cautiously opened his eyes and peered around Vinny when hear heard the familiar voice that belonged to a more familiar person, "The kid's not worth it, just back off." Shane noticed that Baracus was looking everywhere in the room but at him, doing his best to avoid any and all eye contact with him.

"Baracus is right Vinny, the kid is nothing- or at least he will be in a few minutes." A spine-chilling, almost deranged grin spread across the Boss' face. At the Boss' words, Nate began to struggle harder, screaming incoherent words into the painful gag around his mouth. Shane knew it was no use though.

"Why the hell is Nate still here huh? I've kept my end of the bargain, now let him go!" he struggled, ignoring the pain in his injured shoulder.

The Boss let out an eerie chuckle, "Don't worry kid, we'll let him go as soon as all of our agreement is met." Shane's eyes widened when the Boss pulled out small handgun from the halter around his waist and held it out for Baracus to take. He realized with a jolt of horror that this man, no, this _psychopath _was going to make Nate listen to him die. It was more than he can bear.

"WHY?" He cried out desperately. He couldn't contain himself anymore, he had to know, "Why are you doing thing? Why me? Why MY FAMILY?" Shane felt a few, hot tears begin to roll down his cheeks, and he hated himself for it. He didn't want these heartless bastards see him cry, to see how weak he really was but he couldn't help it.

He was scared.

He didn't want to die.

"Your father broke his promise kid." The Boss said simply, "We're killing you for the same reason we're letting your brother go after this: Yakavetta's always keep their promises… _always_."

Shane choked back a sob as he saw Baracus take the gun from the Boss and point it right at him. Baracus' face was stoic and free of emotion, just as Shane remembered it to be all those years ago, but something seemed different. Looking into the mobster's eyes, he felt strangely at peace and at ease and at that moment, he felt as if everything would turn out okay. Shane took a deep breath and sat as straight as his injured body would allow. He closed his eyes and braced himself.

This was it.

"Who the hell are you?!" Shane snapped his eyes open when he heard Vinny's shocked and alarmed voice. He craned his neck around to see what everyone was staring at and gasped. There, standing by the stairs with a gun raised and a determined expression was someone Shane thought he would never see again.

"My name is Jason Grey, and I would appreciate it if you could point that gun away from my little brother."

_Oh God. _

***cough cough* So… what did you think? I hope it was worth the wait at least ** ****

**I'm heading off to the library to do a bit to work on my drug cards. i swear, the patient in my case study is on more drugs than Lewis Black.******

**No, I'm not kidding.******

**I just wanted to thank everyone who is taking the time to read and review! School can be discouraging but hearing your reactions to my story motivated and encouraged me more than you all could ever know. So… thanks.******

***virtual group hug*******

**Leave a review! And thanks again for reading!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Kay guys here's an update... for real this time! Haha! **

**It would have been up yesterday, but my internet went down while I was replying to all your reviews and then I had work****! so sorry to those of you I managed to reply to and said that the chapter would be up in like 10 minutes. Because obviously that didn't happen!**

**anyways, on with the chapter!**

**Enjoy!******

"My name is Jason Grey and I would appreciate it if you could point that gun away from my little brother." Jason's voice had a slight tremor to it, but the hand holding the gun was steady, lethally steady.

Quick as a flash, Shane saw Vinny pull out a gun from his waistband and aim it as his brother, Baracus following suit. "Jason!" Shane cried, struggling desperately to free himself, to prevent his brother from doing something stupid.

Jason shook his head, "I think it would be in your best interest, Boss, to call off your men and release my brothers. _Now_."

The Boss gave a sinister smile, "And why would I do that boy when I out number you three to one?"

"Because as of right now I have my gun aimed just to the right of your abdomen, directly level with your liver. If the gunshot doesn't kill you, the toxin's that will build up in your body will. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I've been taking pistol lessons since I was 10… and I never miss."

The Boss let out a hollow laugh, "You won't do it boy. You don't have it in you to take a life," He took one, menacing step forward but stopped when he heard Jason cock his gun.

"How much are you willing to bet on that?" said Jason evenly from across the room. Silence hung in the air, and all that could be heard was Shane's uneven breaths, and Nick's muffled whimpers.

"Who do you think you are that feel that you can do this? To think you can come in here and just make demands in this way." growled out the Boss finally, his cold eyes boring into Jason's brown ones.

Jason glared right back, his face completely free of emotion. What he did next surprised Shane, and more than likely everyone else in the room; he began to laugh. It started off as a soft chuckle and then escalated into full out hoots of hysteria. He literally looked insane, as though the Boss's question had completely pushed him over the edge. With all that had happened to Jason, Shane vaguely wondered if he had finally lost it.

"Wh-ho do I th-hink _I_ a-am?" He laughed out, finally regaining his composure and taking a step closer to the aged mobster, "I'm someone who's gotten fucked over one too many times by your, sociopathic ass!" He took a step closer, his eyes alight with a fire that Shane had never witnessed before, "I'm someone who's watched his mother go insane, his father be consumed by grief and I had to deal with the loss of one brother while practically raising the other!" He took another step closer, so that the gun was almost touching the Boss himself, though the mobster showed no signs of moving out of his path, "I've lost EVERYTHING and for what? So you could feel the satisfaction of having the power over some poor man and a couple of kids? Look at you! You're raging a war against boys! What kind of person does that?" Their faces were inches apart, and Shane could do nothing but hold his breath, "I'll tell you what kind of person because it's exactly what you are: _a coward_." Jason spat out the last two words just above a whisper, but he might as well of screamed it at the top of his lungs for all the intensity in them.

The Boss blinked once, "If you pull that trigger boy, you, your whole family. They're dead."

Jason smirked, "That maybe but that won't change one… little… fact" Jason pressed the gun roughly into the Boss' gut as he spoke, "no matter what your men do to me or my family, you'll still be dead… and you'll be in Hell." The Boss's eyes flash with a sudden emotion and he quickly tried to conceal it, but it was too late. Jason had seen it.

It was fear.

The Boss stood straighter and cleared his throat, "Baracus, Vinny. Sheath your weapons and untie the boys." Shane's eyes widened, as I'm sure did the other monsters in the room. Jason did nothing though; he just continued to stare menacingly at the Boss. "NOW!" he barked suddenly, causing Baracus and Vinny to snap out of shock and comply with their leader's demands.

Within minutes Shane found himself unbound and on his feet, taking special care not to jar his injured arm. Shane saw Nate struggling to rise out of his own chair, but the lack of insulin and the ordeal he had surely been through had obviously taken their toll on him. Shane went over and helped Nate rise unsteadily to his feet, his legs we shaking from being tied to the chair for so long… but he was alive and that's all that mattered to Shane.

The pair stumbled over to where Jason was slowly backing away towards the stairs. "You alright Nate?" Kevin asked without taking his eyes off his target.

"Yeah." Nate's voice was weak and raspy from lack of water and use.

"Shane?"

"Fantastic." Shane ground out, staring fiercely across the room at the aged man. All he wanted to do is pounce on the mobster and smash his face into the ground, but he knew now was not the time. His brother needed him now. Revenge would have to wait. "How did you know where to find us?"

"I followed you."

"But how did you-"

"Diet water? Oh come on Shane I knew something was up the moment I found Tyler looking for that stuff. I caught the tail end of your little discussion on the phone and followed you after you pulled your James Bond stunt out the bathroom window… I couldn't let you do this alone."

"And it was all for nothing." Spat out the Boss from across the room. "At least with our way you would have been able to keep one of your brothers… but now that deal is off. The moment you leave this house, it's over."

Shane took a step forward but Jason placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, stopping him, "Yeah it will be over… _for you_." The Boss looked at Jason curiously, "I texted a very good friend with this address the minute I saw your boys pull up to it. The cops have been looking for this place for a long time, and with charges like embezzlement, conspiracy, kidnapping, murder… let's just say you are going to get what you disserve." Jason held up the gun, "And I didn't even need to kill you. Thirty-five years to life will be punishment enough I think, don't you?" Shane saw the Boss's face glow red, his body actually shaking with furry. He then chanced a glance at Baracus and saw with surprise that the mobsters face was not angry or even annoyed for that matter. He actually looked satisfied, almost proud at the turn of events. The look was undeniable; it was a look of respect.

He respected Jason.

"Let's get out of here guys." Jason said to his brothers and turned to leave, stratified with the Boss' stunned silence.

What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion, though Shane couldn't have stopped it even if he had wanted to. He saw movement coming from the Boss and a moment later the glint of silver caught his eye. His eyes widened when he realized it was a gun… and he was aiming it at Jason. Before Shane could even react there was a loud 'NO' and even louder bang. The sound was deafening and Shane instinctively brought his hands up, protecting his ears from the noise. He couldn't look to his the side, because he knew what he would find.

He knew Jason was dead.

**Again sorry it's so short, but I'll try to write more when I get home tonight, I just wanted to give you guys something to read!******

**Thanks again to all those who take the time to read this and let me know what you think if you get a minute!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey everyone! I have for you another update! Sorry it took so long but my computer has been on the fritz and school and work have been rather pesky as of late.**

Anyways, enough excuses, on with the chapter!

Enjoy!

"Oh God… NATE!" Jason's voice reached Shane's ears and he quickly turned his head so that he was looking at is brothers… and his heart stopped at the sight that greeted him.

Nate was slowly sinking to the ground, Jason supporting his body so that he wouldn't hit the floor full force. He was gasping and clutching at an ever widening red spot on the front of his chest.

Nate had jumped in front of the bullet to save his brother.

The sound of a cocking gun caused Shane to look back at the Boss once more. He had taken aim at Jason once again and Jason, to busy focusing on Nate, hadn't noticed. Shane didn't even have to think twice before he rushed head long at the aged mobster, but before Shane could reach him, another loud shot echoed through the room. Shane stopped dead, shutting his eyes and waiting for the pain that he knew would surely come… but to his surprise it didn't.

He heard a gargling sound and he opened his eyes just in time to see the Boss fall to his knees, clutching his throat as blood poured out from his fingertips. Baracus stood behind the fallen mobster, gun pointed to the spot where the Boss had been standing only seconds before.

"BARAUS!" screamed Vinny in astonishment, "What the hell did you do?!"

"I ended it." said Baracus nonchalantly taking out his white handkerchief and wiping down the gun before tossing it the Boss' lifeless body. He looked over at Shane, who stood speechless at the turn of events.

He looked up into Baracus' eyes and he couldn't help but study them. They were dark and hard, as though they had witnessed too much of what horrors this world had to offer. But beneath all that coldness that radiated from those orbs, Shane found a glimmer of something more… he saw a friend.

"Nate! Nate you have to breathe for me buddy! COME ON!" Shane saw his older brother on the verge of hysterics, his hand pressed firmly over the wound on Nate's chest, with blood gushing from between his fingertips. Shane's ears perked up at the faint sounds of Police sirens that could be heard in the distance.

"Baracus!" growled Vinny harshly, "We have to go. NOW!" But the mobster didn't seem to hear his companion. He still stood unmoving, staring intensely at Shane, who could only gawk back in awe.

Shane couldn't find the words to express his gratitude, and he could only manage to swallow dryly and give the mobster a short nod. Baracus returned the gesture stiffly.

"BARACUS! Will you move it!? We have to get the hell out of here!" Vinny practically screamed at his friend from across the room. He was standing in the entrance of a doorway Shane hadn't noticed before. With that Baracus turned on his heal and walked briskly out the open door without so much as a backward glance, disappearing into the darkness.

Shane watched as the aged wooden door shut quickly behind the man who had saved his life. Shane mused that it would probably be that last time he'd ever see him… and he never said thank you.

"J-ason… I… Shane…" Shane came out of his daze at the sound of his name and realized how serious the situation really was. He cautiously approached the two boys on the floor, as if knowing every step he took closer to his dying brother made it all the more real.

"Jason…" Nate murmured weakly, the word itself seemed to cause him unbearable agony. Blood had begun to ooze out the corner of his mouth, turning his teeth an almost unreal shade of red. He was deathly pale, almost ghostlike and a harsh gargling sound had begun to issue deep in his throat. As much as Joe wanted to turn away from he couldn't, he was memorized by the amount of blood.

There was so much blood.

"Nate I'm right here okay? I'm not going anywhere but I need you to open your mouth and breathe… _please_." Shane felt a tear slide down his cheek, and he made no move to wipe it way. He was frozen to the spot, watching helplessly as his little brother bleed out in front of him on the dirty basement floor. He had to stop this. He couldn't, _wouldn't _allow this to happen.

"POLICE! EVERYONE DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

Loud commotion had suddenly broke out on the floor above them and Shane jumped into action immediately.

"HELP! WE NEED HELP DOWN HERE!" He ran up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, tripping over himself in his haste. He ignored the pain and focused on the one thing he could do to help Nate. "HEY! WE'RE DOWN HERE!" Just as he reached the top the door flung open, revealing several fully suited officers. They were all pointed their guns at Shane.

"FREEZE!" called one of the faceless officers and Shane stopped in his tracts, raising his good arm in defensive.

"NO! Don't shoot!" he cried, "Please! My brother needs help!"

"Up against the wall!" The leader of the group shouted. Shane did as he was instructed. He had dealt with police before and knew it was in his best interest to just do as they say. The leader then signaled two men forward and they cautiously crept down the stairs. Shane began to get frustrated, this was taking too long.

"CLEAR!" Came a booming voice from below and the remaining members of the squad advanced down the wooden stairs, Shane following closely behind. A few of the officers proceeded through the door that Baracus had disappeared trough moments before, but the leader and another officer stayed behind.

"Red 2! Send in the paramedics, we have a one victim down and in critical condition. Another victim is lucid but has suffered trauma." There was a crackling 'copy' before the officer knelt down beside Jason, "You're doing great son. Just keep pressure on it."

Jason nodded firmly, "He's going to be okay right?" silence greeted his question and Shane could see the tears gathering behind his brother's eyes.

Shane came up beside his brother and placed a comforting hand on Jason's trembling shoulder, "Just keep talking to him man, he needs you right now." Jason blinked back the tears and nodded, finding strength in his brother's touch. Shane didn't leave his side until the paramedics arrived.

The next twenty five minutes were nothing more than a blur for Shane. The paramedics has swarmed his little brother and starting shouting things that Shane couldn't understand. It was all white noise to him now. He followed the medics up the stairs as they carried his brother's small form on a massive stretcher. Nate barely had the strength to keep his eyes open and Shane could see him weakly raising his arm, reaching out as if hoping someone familiar would take it.

"We can have one person ride with him." Without any hesitation, Shane pushed Jason forward.

"He's going to want you there." Was all Shane could say, because it was the truth. Shane knew that Nate loved both his brothers equally, but he also knew that he would feel safer with Jason there.

Jason nodded and made to get into the ambulance but stopped himself. In one swift motion he turned and pulled Shane into a massive hug. Shane wrapped his good arm around his brother and buried his face in his chest. "I love you Shane." Jason said just above a whisper and nodded weakly.

"I love you too." With that, Jason kissed the top of Shane's head and jumped up into the ambulance. Shane saw Jason take Nate's hand, causing Nate to smile feebly before the doors shut. Shane watched as the ambulance pulled away and disappeared around the corner.

"Come on kid, let's get you cleaned up." Said a paramedic and Shane nodded and allowed the man to usher him to the back of an open ambulance.

Not long after, Joe sat on the edge of the ambulance with his head bandaged and his arm in a sling. The medic had a put a blanket around him and handed him a bottle of water and told him to drink while he talked to the police, but Joe had yet to touch it. He was beyond exhausted and he felt so lost.

"SHANE?" Shane looked up to see Rachel darting frantically around the scene, a firm grip on Tyler's hand. Shane's face lit up at the sight of a familiar face.

"Rachel!" Shane croaked out as he jumped off the back of the ambulance. Rachel zeroed in on Shane and practically ran over to him. They stopped a few inches apart from one another, "Rachel you-"

Before Shane could finish, Rachel pulled her hand back and smacked him clean across the face. Shane's eyes widened in surprise and he slowly bough his hand up to cradle his now stinging cheek. A second later, Rachel pulled a dazed Shane into a suffocating hug.

"Don't you EVER do anything like this again? Don't you know you could have died? What the hell were you thinking you retard!?"

"Sorry." Shane managed to breathe out.

"Shane! I'm glad you're okay! We got to ride in a police car and he let me do the siren. It was SO sweet!" Shane chuckled as he felt Tyler wrap his little arms around his torso.

"That's awesome Tyler."

"Yeah and you know what's not awesome?" Rachel pulled away and held Shane out at arm's length to inspect him, "You, pulling a freakin Rambo and trying to take on a mafia. What were you planning on doing once you got here huh? Stupid them to death with your brain?"

"Dude shut up." Growled out Shane, giving Rachel a light shove.

Rachel gave a slight chuckle, "But seriously though, are you okay?" Her voice was laced with genuine concern and Shane couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Yeah Rach, I'm good. But Nate…"

"Nate's in the ICU at the City Hospital." Everyone turned to see Mr. Grey approaching. He pulled Shane into a hug upon arrival, "I'm glad you're okay Shane." He breathed out and Shane felt a few tears sting his eyes. He nodded and Mr. Grey pulled away.

"The police have offered us a ride over. Let's go." Everyone moved to follow and they all piled into the back of the waiting cruiser.

Tyler was up front with the officers asking hundreds of questions as the officers patiently did their best to answer them all. Shane was sandwiched in between his father and Rachel: With his father's arm placed comfortingly on his knee and his good arm intertwined with Rachel's. He knew he should have felt at ease with all the support he had in the back of that car but he couldn't bring himself to stop fidgeting. As the car pulled away towards the hospital he wondered with a jolt of nausea if he would still have two brothers once this night was over.

**… So at least Jason's not dead yes? So there is at least some cause for celebration? ** ****

Guys thank you for all the reviews. You're support and kind words have given me the push I need to continue, and I can never thank you enough!

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of the chapter !


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey all! Sorry For the wait! My stories were getting systematically deleted at intervals and so I couldn't update! Every time one got deleted another got deleted and I had to wait like three days before I could post anything! Hopefully this will get up before they delete another one! **

**All I want to say is that this chapter is dedicated to Jay for taking the time to make me such an awesome banner! Thanks hot stuff! :) The link is in my profile!**

With that said, on with the chapter!

They arrived at the hospital sooner than Shane would have liked, and everyone tumbled out of the car. Sure Shane wanted to see his how his brother was, but he hated hospitals. They never brought him anything but misery and they always meant the end of the line: another home, another foster family… another scar.

Shane was the last to get out of the car and hung back to look up at the familiar building in front of him. If anything it looked bigger and far more menacing that he had remembered, and Shane vaguely wondered why.

A flash of Nate bleeding and gargling on the basement floor entered his mind and the image hit him with the intensity of a frate train. He gasped and shut his eyes, bringing a hand up to rub the memory out of his vision. He couldn't go into this building, the thought that his dead brother maybe inside it was more than he could bear. He couldn't do this alone.

The sensation of someone tugging on his shirt caused him to look up, but he didn't see anyone. Another tug and he looked down so see Tyler's green eyes peering up at him with concern. Shane just stared back at him, unable to give his foster brother the assurance he needed.

Without a word, Tyler reached up grasped Shane's free hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Don't worry Shane, I'll stay with you." he said the last part in secretive whisper so that no one else could hear. Shane gave the 8-year-old a small smile of gratitude.

Tyler's lips parted into a toothy grin and he lead Shane over to the hospital doors, where Rachel and his father where waiting patiently. They all entered the hospital together and head over to the waiting area. They rounded the corner and saw Jason sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, his elbows resting on his knees and his head buried in his hands.

"Jason!" his father called out as the group quickened their pace to reach him.

Jason snapped his head up at the sound of his name, and quickly stood up when he saw who was approaching. Shane stopped in his tracks at the sight of him, as did everyone else in the group. He was covered in blood.

Nate's blood.

Jason's tired eyes crinkled in confusion when his family stopped a few feet from him with open mouths. He looked down at his clothing and hands and seemed to realize his appearance for the first time that night. He self-consciously pulled on the hem of his blood stained shirt and shifted from one foot to the other, not looking at the group in front of him.

"Nate's in surgery." Jason said to the ground, unable to meet the gaze of his horror stricken family, "The uh… bullet is lodged between his clavicle and the start of his intercostals space. The doctor said he was lucky. The wound looked clean and it just missed his heart, but it severed a subclavicular artery. They're just concerned about the blood loss… he wasn't conscious when they took him back…" he trailed of helplessly, swallowing hard.

Mr. Grey was the first to step forward, and he placed a comforting hand on his eldest's shoulder, "You did good Jason." He said simply, and Jason nodded still not looking up at his father, "Hey look at me." He said gently but firmly, and Jason slowly brought his gaze up. Mr. Grey placed a hand gently on his son's cheek, "I'm proud of you. You did good, you brought them back." He gave Jason's cheek a slight pat and turned to face Shane. "Come on, let's get someone to give you a proper once over."

Shane sighed, but did not protest, knowing it was pointless. Besides, his head hadn't stopped pounding all night and he was desperate for some form of relief. He gave Jason a small smile and moved to follow his father, Tyler still not letting loose his grip on his hand.

Jason followed them with sad eyes as they made their way up to the reception desk and began talking with one of the nurses. He sighed, turning away and was startled to see Rachel still staring intensely at him. He saw her eyes slowly travel down his body, taking in his appearance and Jason shifted uncomfortably. He knew he must look a mess.

Without a word Rachel walked over to where Mr. Grey was filling out some papers. She whispered something in his ear and it caused Mr. Grey to look back at Jason. He then nodded and removed his jacket before handing it to Rachel. She walked back over to where Jason was standing with the coat in her hands.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She took one of Jason's blood stained hand, seemingly unaffected by it and led him down the hall to the handicap bathroom. Once inside she locked the door and led Kevin over to the sink. He watched with a detached expression as Rachel turned on the hot and cold water, taking care to test and adjust the temperature so that it was warm. She looked up at Jason and saw that his eyes were glossed over. She sighed and placed his hands underneath the warm liquid, washing them for him.

Jason grimmest as he saw the once clear water turn to a sickly shade of pink as his brother's blood began to run off his hands. Rachel applied soap and within minutes, all traces of the offending substance disappeared.

Rachel dried Jason's hands with a paper towel and made him sit on the toilet seat. "Arms up." She instructed and Jason did as he was told, allowing her to remove his shirt. She threw it unceremoniously into the trashcan. Jason didn't mind. He knew those stains wouldn't come out and he never wanted to be reminded of that moment again. Ever.

Rachel helped Jason into his father's coat and zipped it so that he was properly covered. She stood up and looked at him for a moment, before returning to the sink and wetting a paper towel. She crouched down in front of him and began to gently rub at a spot on Jason's neck with the wet towel, obviously trying to remove more blood from his skin.

Jason just stared at her, noting the intensity and care in which she worked. Her brow was furrowed in intense concentration, focusing all her energy into this one task that no one had even asked her to do. He suddenly brought his hand up, grabbing hold of her carefully scrubbing one. Rachel started and looked up at Jason in confusion.

"Why are you doing this?" Jason asked seriously and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Because, Grey, you're freakin' covered in blood. There are little kids out in that waiting room and you were probably scaring them half to hell with this Psycho get up. Plus you looked freakin' gross." Rachel tried to pull her hand free but Jason continued to hold on.

"No." Jason shook his head, "I mean, why do you care so much? And don't think I don't see it through all your snarky comments. No one ever asks you too, and yet you always seem to be taking care of someone or something: Shane, Tyler, that stupid diner… me. Why?"

Rachel sighed, "I'm taking care of you because you need to be taken care of and I'm here. It's as simple as that."

Jason was quiet for a moment, as though carefully considering how best to say what was on his mind, "Who takes care of you then, Rachel?" Rachel's eyes' widened at the question, looking as though Jason had just slapped her in the face. "Rachel, who takes care of you when _you _need help?"

"I… you…" she seemed at a loss for words, which Jason assumed was probably a first for her. Suddenly she wrenched her hand out of his grip, "You know what? Fuck you. If feel the need to interrogate me then you take care of your own damn self!" She stood and made to open the bathroom door, but Jason jumped up and pressed his body against it.

"This is not an interrogation; it's just a simple question, with an even simpler answer." Stated Jason calmly.

"Get out of my way Jason." Growled Rachel, still trying to open the door, but he was too strong.

"You either let someone in or you don't. Which is it?"

"I DON'T okay? There! I said it! You fucking happy now?" She gave Jason a hard push and began to pace the small bathroom. "I know what it's like to not have anyone, to be completely and utterly alone! I take care of people because I'll be damned if I let anyone else feel this like I do every day of my life, to feel scared out of your mind every single day!"

"You don't have to be scared Rachel," Jason pressed, taking a step closer to her, "at least not anymore. I talk to my dad, you and Tyler are going to stay with us."

She scoffed and turned away from him, obviously because she was about to cry and she didn't want him to see, "I've always had to take care of myself and I'm honestly okay with that." Jason could tell by the tremor in her voice that she was most definably _not _okay with that. "God, Jason no one has ever given a shit about me, and the ones that do always end up leaving. Always. My mom, my cracked out dad, any and all boyfriends… hell even Shane's going to leave me! And one day, Tyler will too. They both have found something better… it only a matter of time…" She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands.

Jason came around and crouched in front of her. He brought a hand under her chin and gently raised her head. She fought him at first, but eventually they were both staring into one another's eyes. "They're not going to leave you Rachel." She tried to look away, but he moved his head to follow her gaze, "And I'm not going to leave you either."

A few salty tears rolled down Rachel's cheeks, "You promise?" she said just above a whisper.

Jason smiled and wiped away a few tears with his thumb, "I promise."

"Good. Because if you do, I swear I will beat the shit out of you." Rachel said seriously and Jason couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Jason was relieved to see a smile spread across Rachel's face.

"Okay we should probably leave, some of the nurses may think we were having sex or something." Rachel said as Jason helped her to her feet.

"Ewah. Gross." Jason made a face and Rachel just playfully punched him. The pair exited the bathroom and began to walk down the hall. "Thanks for cleaning me up."Rachel nodded and gave a genuine smile… _and it was beautiful_.

"Thanks for caring."

"JASON!" The pair looked up to see a frantic Mr. Grey running towards them, "I've been looking for you everywhere! Come quick… it's Nate."

**So… there was a little bit of Rachel for you guys. Sorry if it bored you, but she's like my hero so I thought I'd have a little something about her in it. I'm sure you guys will deal :)**

Let me know what you thought of the chapter and I swear! I will do my very best to update quickly! I'm pretty much studying non-stop as finals are upon me.

They suck major donkey balls.

hope everyone had a good thanksgiving (for those of you who celebrate it) and hoped this was at least worth the wait!


	23. Chapter 23

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

**So here it is guys! The very last chapter! I don't know why, but I'm actually kind of sad. I mean… I feel like I'm losing a good friend or something (Which is SO weird!)**

I re-read this story today and I saw the journey that each character has taken and the hardships they've over come… it's crazy to think that this is the end. I've just had so much fun and I hope you all have enjoyed reading it just as much as I have writing it

But the end it is, and I would like to thank tv-lover007, because without her this idea would have never even occurred to me. And to Emma Is Mrs Kevin Jonas and starsuffers who encouraged me to repost it after it was deleted. Thank you 1000 times over. I couldn't have created this without you!

With that I present to everyone the last chapter in this epic tale of A Place to Call Home.

Enjoy!

***Epilogue*** 

2 MONTHS LATER

Shane stood staring up at the massive building in front of him. He'd seen a decent number of buildings in his life, but something about this one was different. He didn't know if it was the fifty-three floors of shiny windows, the words _Columbia Records _scrawled across the front of it, or even if it was the thought of the man he had to impress within that made him want to vomit.

"Are you scared Shane?" Shane looked down next to him to see Tyler staring up at the menacing building as well.

"No." his voice cracked, causing Tyler to giggle. "Okay maybe a little." he admitted sheepishly.

Tyler smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his arm, "Don't worry Shane, just don't mess up!"

Shane's eyes narrowed, "Thanks." he replied flatly.

"I'm going to go check out the fountain!" With that Tyler scampered off towards one of the two elaborate fountains erected in front of the Columbia Records Studios.

"Just stay where I can see you!" he called after him, and smiled when Tyler turned and gave him the thumbs up.

"Okay Shane," Shane jumped when his brother Jason set down his guitar case to his right and began to fumble with his tie, "You only just got your brace off last week, so I don't want you jumping on ANY tables while we're singing alright?"

Shane rolled his eyes, "Dude why aren't you telling Nate that? I'm not the one who got shot!"

"Because I know Nate won't jump on the table." Said Jason seriously, still struggling with his tie.

"How do you know?"

"I promise not to jump on the table." said Nate distractedly as he flipped through couple pages of sheet music in his arms. He too, had only just gotten his cast off from his almost fatal wound. He actually wasn't suppose to have it off till next week, but when Rachel had secured the interview with Harold Berkley for this week, he seemed to will his body to heal faster, and the doctors had agreed to take I off if he wore a brace at night. Shane just stared at his little brother, chests tightening at the thought of how close they all came to losing him. But Hate was a fighter, and when he set his mind to do something, it almost always got done.

"There you have it." said Jason with a smirk and Shane let out a sigh.

"Fine."

Jason cried in frustration, "Damn it! How does this thing work?" He gestured accusingly at the tie around his neck.

Shane laughed, "What's the matter Bro? Is it idiot proof?"

"Dude shut up! Can you just give me a hand?"

"Ummm… you know maybe you don't need one…"

Jason raised an eye brow, "You can't tie it either can you?"

"Yes I can! Look!" he pointed to the tie around his neck.

"Shane, that's a clip on." Rachel said smartly, setting down her briefcase and coming up to help Jason with his tie.

"HAH!" Jason yelled triumphantly, pointing a condemning finger at his younger brother, who dropped his jaw in betrayal.

"Traitor." he spat at Rachel.

"Idiot." she threw back, reaching up to secure Jason's tie properly. "Stop squirming! Honestly you both are like little kids!" Jason only smiled and watched Rachel as she succeeded in knotting the stubborn object.

"What would I do without you?" breathed Jason affectionately, snaking his arms around her waist.

Rachel wrapped her arms round his neck, "Invest in a clip on." she said bluntly, but with a hint of a smile. Jason laughed and pressed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Jason!" Mr. Grey's voice cut through the air and everyone looked up. "Can you give your mother a hand please?" Mr. Grey was setting up a wheel chair and Mrs. Grey was having a bit of trouble getting out of the car. She had been improving drastically over the past few months since returning home. Sure, there were still a few times when she had to be reminded of where she was, but the doctors encouraged the family to treat her as normally as possible. Shane was skeptical at first, but this morning Mrs. Grey had risen early to make them all breakfast and he allowed himself to feel hope. He smiled remembered seeing the tears of joy in Jason's eyes.

"Yeah sure!" Jason called out and gave a brief wink at Rachel before heading off to help his mother out of the car.

Shane sighed, "Okay can you guys _not _do gross things like that when I'm around?"

Rachel turned and smirked, "You think that's gross huh? Well then I guess I shouldn't tell you that we slept in your bed."

Shane's eyes widened, "WHAT?"

"Twice."

Shane choked on his own spit and was about to ask if she was serous when Nate ran up to them in a panic, "I lost it! I lost the sheet music for _That's What I Go to School For_! Mr. Berkley wants all the music we have! We're not prepared! We're NOT prepared! WHAT IF HE WON'T SEE US?"

"NATE!" Rachel yelled over the panic voice of the boy in front of her, "I have an extra copy of the music in my trunk, so just calm your little afro down!"

Nate looked relieved, "Oh thank God! I can't believe I forgot it though, I could have sworn I checked the folder to make sure I had it! Aren't your pages a more off-white color? Do you think he'll mind of not all the pages are the same, uniformed color?" Nate continued to ramble all the way to the car.

"Rachel you didn't _really _sleep in my bed with Jason did you?" Rachel just turned and smiled not saying anything, "RACHEL?" Shane groaned as she rounded the side of the car and started to dig in the trunk. He knew that it wasn't true, but it didn't mean he wouldn't like some sort of reassurance.

He turned, intending retrieve Tyler before he decided to take a swim in one of the fountains when an out of place car caught his eye. There were no other cars parked outside of the building but their own save one: a black BMW.

Shane saw that the window on the back side passengers seat was rolled down, a thin film of cigar smoke trickling out its open window. He chanced a glance at his family and saw that they were all distracted with one thing or another, so he started walking cautiously towards the parked car. He couldn't see the face as he approached, but he knew exactly who it was. "Hey Baracus."

A soft and familiar chuckle came from within and moments later, the aged mobster came into view. "So you can say my name now huh kid?" Shane gave a smile and shoved his hands in his pockets, "How ya been?"

Shane gave a shrug, "Alright I guess. It's different, but I like it."

"They treatin' you alright?" Baracus took a puff of his cigar.

Shane smiled and nodded, "They keep me on my toes… but I won't trade my family for anything."

"Good." He blew small O's of smoke out threw his lips, "So, _Columbia Records _huh?"

Shane gave a short laugh, "Yeah, Rachel got us the interview."

"Your foster sister Rachel?" He furrowed his brow in confusion and Shane nodded.

"Yup, if you ever met Rachel, you know you don't say no to her if she really wants something… She won't let you."

Baracus smiled, "You'll find that's true with all women kid."

It was Shane's turn to laugh this time, "Haha yeah I guess…. So I heard that the Yakavetta's have been disbanded." Baracus grunted in affirmation and Shane licked his lips, "Are you going to jail?"

Baracus threw his head back and let out a single laugh, "Hell no. I called in a few favors and I'm heading to warmer climates. This inner city bull is getting to be too much."

Shane found himself slightly disheartened at this news. The knowledge that Baracus would no longer be in the same city was sad. It was like he was losing a good friend. "Where will you go?"

Baracus took another puff of his cigar, considering his answer, "Disneyland." he said finally and Shane laughed.

"Shane, come on!" He turned to see Jason gesturing for him to hurry up.

Shane turned back towards the BMW, knowing he didn't have much time, "Listen I just wanted to say thank you for you know… saving my life. If it weren't for you, I would have been fish food twelve years ago so… thanks."

"No problem kid." He threw his cigar out the window, "Take care of yourself Shane, and I look forward to hearing more about you Grey brothers in the future." Shane smiled with amusement and waved the ex-mobster off. He was about to turn to leave when Baracus called him back, "And kid?" Shane looked up, "Thanks." He stuck his arm out and pressed a small object in Shane's hand.

The teen blinked in puzzlement as the car pulled away from him. He watched it all the way to the end of the street and it disappeared around the corner, taking his savior with it. Only then did he open his hand to see what Baracus had given him. He gasped when he saw a familiar toy car glinting in the sunlight.

He stared at the object, his mind racing as to what Baracus could possibly be thanking him for. He then came to realized that he may never really know, and maybe he wasn't meant to. He just had to take comfort in the knowledge that he had somehow helped the person he owed everything to.

And that was good enough for him.

"Hey Shane!" Joe looked up to see his brother Nate waving at him by the massive double doors of the building, "Let's rock this thing and go home!"

A smile slowly spread across Shane's face, and he sprinted up the stone steps of the building.  
_  
Yeah, home._

**Wow.**

205 pages.

45,707 words… and it's over.

SO …. I hope it was at least worth reading and you all found at least a fraction of entertainment in it! Thank you to all who reviewed! I really could not have done this without all your kind words and encouragement!

Thanks again for those of you who took the time to read and an even bigger thanks to those of you who left your comments. I never thought that anyone would read this, and it means the world to me that you all did.

Thank you. That's all I can think to say. I hope those two little words will be enough to show my appreciation and gratitude.

Polly

**Ps. You can find me On the two other sites listed in my profile! I have other stories there that you guys probably haven't read them yet! PM me if you have questions!**


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